Armarta can challenge hot QGOLD Winter Sprint field

By Josh Spasaro

With impressive broodbitch Femme Folle as his dam, Armarta has the build and racing smarts to challenge a strong field in the QGOLD Winter Sprint Final at Q1 Lakeside on Saturday night.

The feature is worth $40,200 and will be run over 457 metres. Armarta is prepared by champion trainer Tom Tzouvelis.

Jeff Crawford has three runners in fine form lining up in the race, including Rockhampton Cup champion Star Turn, Easter Trophy victor Strut and Lakeside Cup winner Blue Blend.

Travis Elson also has the consistent Super Scrub, last December’s QGOLD Rookies winner Mr. Lasso and Rockhampton Young Guns victor Cody’s Star to contest this race.

But, Armarta’s claims cannot be dismissed after saluting in two of his past three starts.

“We named him Armarta because he’s named after a tank,” Tzouvelis said.

“The dog has been going well. He’s an honest dog. He’s racing up the Q Straight on Thursday.

“It’s a matter of seeing how he pulls up from Thursday as to whether he’ll start on Saturday."

Armarta, who turns three on August 6, has 17 wins from 29 starts with over $53,000 in prizemoney.

Tzouvelis said he had plenty of room for improvement.

“He still hasn’t had that many starts, but he’s getting better all the time,” he said. 

“Early in his career we didn’t take him to the circle. We took him to the straight initially to make it less stressful for him.

“As he’s got older, he seems to be holding together well. We’ve progressed to the circle and we’re getting more experience there.”

Armarta’s dam Femme Folle was a city-class bitch who saluted on 10 occasions from 46 starts. Femme Folle finished second in the 2018 Group 3 Christmas Gift Final at Wentworth Park.

“She’s been a very good broodbitch for us. That’s the mother of Valhalla and That’s Hot, who were both Group winners,” Tzouvelis said.

“It’s been a good line and her dam is Miss Lauryn out of Queen Lauryn. It’s been a line we’ve raced for 20 years.

“Soiree descends back to the same bitch, Cheeky Sprite, who was the mother of Queen Lauryn.

“It’s a line I know very well. We’ve had a tremendous amount of success with that dam line.”

Meanwhile, Tzouvelis was full of praise for Soiree when recapping her victory in the world’s richest staying race, The 715, at The Gardens. Soiree won from box one last Friday night and crossed the line in 41.89 seconds.

“Her run in the heats was outstanding. She came out dead last in the heats and had box eight,” he said.

“It was a really heavy track. She was the only dog all night to run on. It was a fantastic run. She pulled ground off a champion bitch like Without A Trace.

“We went into the race pretty confident she’d run first three because of the draw. And, in running when the big names weren’t in front of her, you dare to dream.

“Everything panned out right. She put herself into a good position and was really strong.

“When she won her first 700 metre race at Q2 about three weeks prior, it was her second go over the distance and she beat the best Queensland stayers. So, we knew she was going to be above average then.”

It was Tzouvelis’ second consecutive victory in The 715, after Autumn Storm prevailed for him last year.

“It’s not often you can say you’ve won the richest staying race more than anyone else. It’s definitely nice, there’s no doubt about it,” he said.

“I’ve made no secret over the years that we love racing all dogs, but particularly stayers. 

"We made it a definitive approach with our dogs the way we’ve trained and bred them and our owners for that matter too, to try and breed strong dogs to be competitive in staying races.

“The fact that was a plan of ours six or seven years ago to head in that direction – or maybe longer – to win a race of that stature twice in its short existence is pretty good.

“I’d have been happy with winning it once. But, to have been able to win it twice is fantastic.

“She’s a very young stayer. We’ve got a couple of others in the litter who’ll go over the 700 metres pretty soon, too.

“And, hopefully we can have a lot of fun with the whole litter.”

Tzouvelis was also full of praise for the QGOLD racing concept for local greyhounds ahead of Saturday night’s bumper Queensland Winter Greyhound Racing Carnival schedule at Q1 Lakeside.

They will be the QGOLD Blitz, Bolt, Stayers, Rookies, Veterans, Emerging Sprinters, Winter Chase and Winter Sprint Finals.

“QGOLD is a great concept,” he said. 

“For locals, these races are just terrific. We’re fortunate they run them in a series like this and then throughout the year.

“They’re great races. It’s fantastic they put something into the Queensland-bred dogs. 

"For Queensland-bred only races it’s terrific for the local breeders.”