By Jordan Gerrans
After being a consistent chaser in North Queensland over many years without a feature race to his name, Heath Ardle felt Mali's Gonzales deserved one for all his efforts over the time.
Mali's Gonzales finally landed a high-profile race on Tuesday evening at Townsville, taking out the feature QGOLD Open Final over 498 metres.
Following the popular QGOLD night during the 2022-23 Golden Greys Summer Racing Carnival in Brisbane, the concept has now turned to the north of the Sunshine State.
Tuesday night’s Final celebrated Queensland-bred greyhounds, with Ardle’s dog claiming the $15,000 Final.
The black dog was a 19-time winner at Townsville before Tuesday’s show-piece event and Ardle, who owns and trains the greyhound, thinks he had enough runs on the board to earn a feature victory for his resume.
To make it even sweeter, Mali's Gonzales’ litter brother - Mali's Whitey – ran into fourth in the Final.
“He is a good old dog and he has never won a feature race before this one so it was very good to see him finally win a feature race,” the trainer said.
“Him and his brother – who ran fourth in the same race on Tuesday – they are three and a half years old and have had over 80 starts.
“They seem to be going better now than they ever have.
“The two brothers have done well – I am proud of them – they are a pleasure to have in the kennels, they do everything right.”
Mali's Gonzales has competed in series’ such as the Listed North Queensland Cup and Townsville Grand Prix, among others, without much luck before breaking through on Tuesday evening.
From the seven alley, the black dog - Mali's Gonzales - jumped sweetly and was able to cross to the lead as well as finding the rail.
The son of Fernando Bale led down the back straight before he was headed as the field neared the home turn by reserve runner Flash Fever.
Despite trailing into the final period of the 498 metre event, Mali's Gonzales was able to stick to the inside of the track and finished off better than Flash Fever, scoring by just under a length in 29.11 seconds.
The victory was the Ardle—trained runners 20th of his career from 85 starts, with the vast majority of those coming at Townsville’s Showgrounds complex.
“I actually thought he was drawn probably in the best box that he could have been with just the way the field was,” Ardle said of his dog navigating the seven box.
“With Kiah Beach beside him, she jumps well, but so does he.
“I thought he may have a chance to be up in front and that is the way it played out.
“I was over the moon to see him win.”