Mitchell Street makes a run at Rocky Cup

By Isaac Murphy

Final preparations are being made for trainers travelling dogs to the Group 3 Rockhampton Cup heats this Friday night.

For Tommy Tzouvelis, his campaign with Mitchell Street started over a month ago when he travelled up on a Wednesday night to see what his charge was made of at the track.

He came back a happy man, with a win under the belt and the knowledge that as long as the dog was sound, he’d be ready to turn it on come race day where he’ll have to be at his best in a feature that attracts some of the state’s premier talent.

“It’s a race I like to be a part of every year, but it’s pretty crucial you know the dogs are going to like the place, so I was nice and early getting him up there a month ago and to see them run one-two made my mind up for me,” Tzouvelis said.

“I don’t have a huge amount of experience at the track, but it seems to agree with frontrunners and that’s exactly what Mitchell Street is.

“He looks like he’ll have plenty of competition from the locals; to Chris Riordan’s pup (Joe Patch), a couple of the Scotts up there this week (Mayoress, Fernando Beach) and I’m sure a few more will make the trip.”

The son of Fernando Bale has always been a prodigious talent but relies heavily on leading or being handy in the run, but Tzouvelis thinks he’s got a Group win in him.

“He’s a dog that needs things his way, but he’s very good when he gets it right,” he said.

“I think he’s won a dozen of his 24 starts, with a strike rate like that I wish I had a kennel full of them.

“We’ve had a crack at a few Group races with him before, most recently down at Maitland, but he’s been to Tasmania and finished behind All Hands Off at Lismore.

“He’s just that kind of dog with his box manners that on a good night could win a really handy race - I’m certainly not going to stop testing him against the best.”

Tzouvelis is not scared to travel for the right race, and over recent years is seeing rural clubs flourish due to some hard work behind the scenes.

“I’ve always liked to support our country cups, when trainers travel and bring their good dogs it always seems to have a flow-on effect in that community,” he said.

“More people are drawn to the sport and it makes for better racing year-round.

“Dale Cartwright who is on the board at Rockhampton has been a titan for races like the Rocky Cup, with $1400 prize money for heat winners just a few years ago, a lot of trainers said it wasn’t worth coming up.

“Dale got in touch with all the country clubs, got them talking and was able to raise prizemoney to $3,800 for the heats which has taken races like the Rockhampton Cup to the next level.”

Tzouvelis’ support stretches further north than Rockhampton, with a recent Melbourne acquisition now a permanent fixture in Darwin.

“I made the decision recently to really cut down on the number of dogs in the kennel and focus on getting a quality city class team,” he said.

“I always keep my eyes open for dogs coming up for sale down south and saw Zekel and Vesper Bale advertised and thought they could make an immediate impact on Thursday night and they’ve both been fantastic.

“Zekel has knocked over a 500 and 600-metre race on Thursday night and I thought he would be the perfect dog to send up to Darwin in preparation for the Cup.

“We always go up as a family every year for a bit of a holiday and will get to see him racing.”