By Isaac Murphy
Serena Lawrance looked like she would feature heavily in the Ipswich Auction Sprint Series with eight pups from the same litter lining up in the heats and the team failed to disappoint with three runners in this Saturday’s $14,000 final, We Get It (1), Ringbark Jen (4) and Ringbark Clancy (7) all with a chance to put a feature series to their name this Saturday night.
“I haven’t analysed the race too closely, if you do it tends to not happen the way you think it will but having the inside with, We Get It looks the most likely out of my runners,” Lawrance said.
“Made In America for Greg Stella stands out as the likely leader we’ve seen him put gaps in them out of the boxes winning his heat and semi the last two weeks.”
“In terms of my three they’re all going to be running on as long as they get the chance to balance up around that first corner, all three have the run home potential to win the race.”
Lawrance runners are regulars at the four hundred and thirty-one metre sprint trip at Ipswich, the trainer praising the re-introduction of the Auction Sprint Series.
“The Sprint Series has been a godsend for us, if it wasn’t on they’d be going through their grades but instead they’re racing for a $14,000 winners cheque after only a few starts,” she said.
“We Get It has been the standout having won six of his twelve races now, but I’m just as pleased with Ringbark Jen and Ringbark Clancy who’ve only won a maiden yet find themselves in the final.”
The corner sprint start at Ipswich is synonymous with box speed, many winners pinching the race on the first corner, but all three of Lawrance’s final hopes go about it a different way.
“The whole litter are very similar none of them have that genuine early pace they usually take a stride or two to get going, but especially in the case of We Get It, Ringbark Jen and Ringbark Clancy they can all fly up the back,” Lawrance said.”
“The three in the final are all pretty field smart if they see a gap, they’ll take it and have a happy knack of avoiding trouble in the run, which is something they’ve all been born with.”
Lawrance has been in the training game for a long time as despite a few taking a little longer to find their feet she admits it’s a remarkable result to get the entire litter to the track for one series.
“To get eight to the track from the Head Bound/Cardwell litter is a big result you don’t often see that many break in well and get to the track by two-years-old,” she said.
“I think a lot of ability comes from the mother Cardwell she didn’t have a long racing career, but it was a very successful one and she’s passed a bit of that talent on to her progeny.”
Three loyal owners control the entirety of the litter each playing their part in their dogs success.
“It’s a big deal for my owners Darryl McCoy who bred the litter, Andrew Woodford who has had dogs with us for years, and Robert Fairbairn who owns Head Bairn and also the sire of the litter Head Bound,” Lawrance said.
“I’d call them more friends than owners now Andrew (Woodford) had Arden Street with us who had a fantastic career, he’s always very hands on coming up to help out and I know Darryl (McCoy) has got a lot of family coming, hopefully it’s a good night for all of us.”
Lawrance has a tried and tested policy of not rushing her pups, at twenty-seven months most of the litter have under ten starts longevity the goal.
“I’ve taken my time with the whole litter because ideally they all have long hard careers in front of them and I’ve had a lot of my dogs keep winning races at well over four-years-old,” she said.
“I’ve never rushed any of my pups, they stay in the yard until they are fourteen to fifteen months old before they come out and get broken in.”
“They don’t stop growing till about fifty-six weeks old and you don’t want to dent their confidence before they’re fully furnished giving them the best chance a long career.”
The excitement doesn’t stop on Saturday night for Lawrance the Prenzlau trainer looking forward to a fruitful couple of months at her home track.
“I’ve always enjoyed racing at Ipswich and it’s the place to be for this litter at the moment, you’ve got the Young Guns coming up in two weeks and then the five hundred and twenty metre Auction Series in April,” she said.
“Head Bairn and Bonus Only have already shown they can win over the five hundred and twenty metres and I think littermates Ringbark Reign, Ringbark Jen and We Get It will all make it comfortably as well.”