Sequana takes centre stage for Summer Carnival

By Isaac Murphy

Albion Park’s fastest ever bitch over the 500 metres in Sequana resumes tonight after a minor setback for Selena and Mick Zammit.

The kennel is confident the superstar is set for a huge summer, with races over the sprint and middle-distance trips firmly in their sights.

The bitch will carry the mantle for the time being while gun kennel mates Oh Mickey and Stinger Noir battle injury.

Sequana was her brilliant self, winning her Lismore Cup Heat last month and looked a real shot in the Final, however Mick Zammit thinks some possible mental scarring stopped her from challenging in the Group 2 Final.

“She got herself into a nice position in the Lismore Cup Final, during the run we thought she was a genuine winning chance, but she just didn’t run on like she usually does so we knew something was wrong,” he said.

“The first time she raced at Lismore in last year’s Million Dollar Chase heats she hit the running rail which really halted her momentum, maybe there was something in the memory bank there, but she pulled up a little tender.

“We gave her a little bit of time off but have trialled her at Ipswich since where she’s gone super, so there’s no reason she shouldn’t be back to her best.”

Still lightly raced, Sequana gets in with Fourth Grade company tonight from a cosy box two draw, and Mick Zammit is hoping she can pick up where she left off her last Albion Park run.

“She finds a winnable race from a good draw tonight, not to discount any of her competition but she’s raced against tougher fields, it looks a good way to kick off her summer campaign,” he said.

“The only thing is she may be a little underdone, she’s only had the one Ipswich trial in the last three weeks, but when she resumed from another short spell in early October she came out and ran 29.64.

“She began a lot better than she traditionally has that night and we’re hoping that’s something she can carry forward; Stinger Noir was able to turn his box manners around - maybe she will too.”

Sequana’s Achilles Heel over the sprint trip was her tardy start; looking to be more prominent in the run, the Zammit’s stepped her up to the 600 where she’s been brilliant since and will mix distances over the carnival.

“In the next month or so we really want to work on her fitness to get her back up to the 600 where she went on her six-race winning streak,” Zammit said.

“The 600 is probably the furthest she wants but she’s been jumping well and with races like The Middle-Distance Challenge and the Group 2 Golden Sands in the next six weeks she should figure.”

“We’ve obviously got great history finishing behind Sennachie in one of the fastest ever times at Albion in the Golden Ticket last year and that’d be a great way to qualify for the Group 1 Gold Bullion in January.”

The kennel is eagerly awaiting the return of Group 1 winner Oh Mickey from Victoria, where he recently competed against the best dogs in the country in the Top Gun Sprinters, and a slight setback shouldn’t upset his January plans.

“Oh Mickey sustained a slight injury to his tail when he hit the rail in the Top Gun, he’ll probably get some well-deserved rest the next month until we start to ramp things up for the Golden Ticket and Gold Bullion in January over,” Mick Zammit said.

“Getting him up over the 600 metres is certainly on the cards after those big races, the way he hits the line I think he’d have no problem running the distance and if he gets out and leads it could bring back his box manners over the 500 metres as well.

“That’s a long way off though, he doesn’t come back from Steve White’s place in Victoria until Friday, first thing’s first we’ll get him healthy and then set some goals.”

Queensland Sprint Champion Stinger Noir had the state cheering when he led his Million Dollar Chase Semi-Final but unfortunately is facing a long climb back after a serious setback in the consolation.

“Stinger has been the hard luck story of late, he ran a huge race in the Million Dollar Chase semis to finish second and fractured his hock in the consolation the next week, we hope he’ll race again but we can’t be sure,” Zammit said.

“He’s got a lot of bruising still and the opinions we’ve got from various vets they’re not sure at this stage just how serious it is, we’ve just got to keep our fingers crossed but if he doesn’t come back he’s been a great dog for us.”