By Isaac Murphy
In September 2019, Jasper The Jet’s promising career was on life support tearing his achilleas tendon after a South Australian campaign.
Trainer John Catton wasn’t sure whether he’d ever get back to his best but gave him the chance, and Jasper rewarded him in spades with eight wins since his return in March.
The dog has never shyed away from the toughest company, and that’s exactly the type he’ll meet in Thursday’s Group 1 Brisbane Cup heats.
“I’m buzzing to have him fit and healthy for a Group 1, but I’ve got to admit it took a bit of the wind out of my sails when I saw the draw (8),” Catton said.
“The inside brigade all have speed and that’s before you even get to Simon Told Helen inside us (7), it’s his biggest test yet.
“If he nails his first section, I don’t doubt he has the ability to cross Simon Told Helen and hopefully the field early, but it’s a huge ask and he’s going to have to do everything right.
“The way he races he makes his own luck, that’s how you win good races being out in front eyeballing the lure and he’ll be doing everything in his power to find the top.”
Three words and one champion dog hang over Jasper’s heat - Simon Told Helen - the Victorian megastar is possibly the only dog in all four heats that has the pace to hold Jasper out.
“I’m pretty confident that he’ll still be able to head off the dogs drawn inside, but whether he can get out and in front of Simon Told Helen is another thing,” Catton said.
“The way he’s been beginning he’s probably likely to hold us out but he should still give us a trail across into second.
“If it plays out that way it’s going to be interesting to see how Jasper responds because he’s so used to leading, Simon Told Helen will be too strong for him but if he can run on into second and a finals birth I’d be rapt.”
Jasper comes into the race off the best form lines possible in Queensland, beaten a breath by Shakey Diesel is last week’s Super Sprinters where he toppled Oh Mickey and Hooked On Scotch, a run that encouraged Catton.
“He managed to head them off in the Super Sprinters last week and he can get away a lot better than that,” he said.
“I thought there was a lot of merit in the run given he really had to work to get to the front as was only beaten a head.
“There’s no dog in Queensland that can rattle off first and second sections as quick as he can and that’s evidenced over what he’s done the last six to eight weeks, we’ve just found a race where there’s no wiggle room.”
Despite being up against it, there’s plenty of positives for Catton to focus on; Jasper isn’t three until later this year and this won’t be his last Group 1 test.
“You’ve got to look at the silver lining and we’ve brought this dog back from a potential career-ending injury to be racing arguably the best dog in Australia and not being without a chance,” Catton said.
“This will be his first Group 1 series he’s competing in and we don’t want to stop with this race.
“They say box draws win races and I think that’s what will most likely get us on Thursday, but to be thrown in the deep end like this should stand him in good stead going forward.”
The dog hasn’t finished worse than third in his last twelve starts, remarkable consistency given Catton had to start him over the 288 metres when he first came back in March.
“His last two months of racing have been nothing short of exceptional, there’s been one occasion where he hasn’t led them at the post and even then he was able to drive through and get to the top and you consistently know what you’re going to get from him,” he said.
“As I mentioned earlier, we’ve been through some trials and tribulations with him; it hasn’t all been clear sailing, but that’s what makes the success he’s had so enjoyable and hopefully we’re just scraping the surface.”
Every step Catton has put in front of the dog he’s taken and although this is his biggest jump yet, the proud Queenslander is relishing the opportunity.
“We never shy away from a challenge, the only way you’re going to find out how good they are is letting them compete against the best out there and who knows, he just might elevate to a level we haven’t seen yet,” Catton said.
“He’s one of two or three Queensland dogs that can run the time the Victorians are probably looking at, we take a lot of pride in that.
“This is our home race and we don’t want interstaters coming up here and winning for fun, he’ll make them earn it.”