Travel woes the first hurdle in Tiger’s Publicans Cup plans

By Pat McLeod

Grafton trainer Michael Landrigan isn’t planning any changes to his travel plans on Thursday night to The Q despite his kennel star’s dislike of road trips.

Landrigan has the well credentialled Apache Tiger coming out of box five in a very competitive heat of the Publicans Cup over 520 metres on the Q2 Parklands circuit.

From the successful Wow and Sweet Fire All litter, Apache Tiger has three placings from four appearances at The Q, all on the Q2.

However, Landrigan says the three-hour trip doesn’t seem to agree with his chaser.

“He is a funny sort of a dog,” Landrigan explains.

“When he travels he does some funny things. During the ride he is very placid and lies down for the entire trip.

“But, when he gets to the destination, I am not sure what it is, but he kind of frets.

“But, despite his travel issues he still seems to perform OK at The Q.

“His last two visits there have been for races over 600 metres.

“On Thursday night it's the 520 metres. That will certainly work to his advantage if he jumps well, but he is desperate for the fence.

“He is out of the five and as soon as he jumps, he will want to go left.

“So, he has to jump well or he will get into trouble and sometimes he begins OK and sometimes he doesn't.”

Landrigan, who is based at Waterview Heights, just outside of Grafton, is the uncle of top dog man Mark Moroney who bred the Wow and Sweet Fire All litter.

So far, the nine ‘pups’ have amassed just over $400,000 in prizemoney, with Apache Tiger the third-highest contributor with $73,480 from 17 wins and nine placings in his 36 starts.

The most successful of the litter to date are the Moroney-trained pair of Firethorn ($87,780) and Goldmine Fire ($74,195). 

Apache Tiger’s highlight wins so far include the Pop Northfield Memorial Final at Casino and the Kempsey Cup Final and he has been a Grafton Cup and Mid North Coast Cup runner.

On Thursday night he comes up against plenty of quality including Ipswich Golden Chase-winner Simulate (trained by Tom Tzouvelis), out of the eight box.

However, Landrigan, a retired butcher, isn’t fazed by the threats.

“I don't know too much about his opposition on Thursday night,” he says.

“All I know is that we will get there and hope for the best.

“My dog is going really well at the moment and if he starts well, you never know what might happen.

“Generally, things are going well for the kennel. Our trip to The Q last Saturday night resulted in a win (Mckeon) and a second (Heroic Federer).”

The Publicans Cup, formerly raced at Albion Park, has become a very popular event on and off the track.

The 520 metre feature is for fifth graders and has attracted four heats on Thursday night with next week’s decider boasting total prizemoney of $18,500.

In the Final, eight participating hotels and clubs from the region will each be allocated a runner in the race with a naming rights sponsorship awarded to ‘the winner’.