Hot Young Guns Final expected in North Queensland

By Jordan Gerrans​

Long-time North Queensland dog man Rob Lound believes the 2023 edition of the Townsville Young Guns Final will be a particularly strong one following Tuesday’s heats.

Lound’s Lush Ice was the first of the three heat winners in 21.76 seconds with Mark Partland’s Stripey Two going faster again when claiming the second heat in 21.65 seconds.

Bradley Belford’s Showtime Prissy rounded out the auditions for next week’s Final in 21.81 seconds.

They were solid times posted for the 380 metre trip around the Townsville Showgrounds complex with the current track record of 21.38 seconds set by Senor Yogi on September 12 earlier this year.

In his mid-60s these days, Lound has been involved in the industry for more than 30 years and has been a leading conditioner of dogs for much of that time.

Lound has won the Townsville Young Guns once before, back in 2015 with Rocket’s Magic.

He anticipates the 2023 crop of emerging greyhounds in NQ will go on to shoot for higher honours following the series.

“It is going to be a good Young Guns, a really good one,” Lound said.

“They were good strong heats and the Final will tell the story. This is the best Young Guns right now for the 380 metres.”

Partland’s Stripey Two has already contested events against the more seasoned dogs in the area, qualifying for the North Queensland Cup Final last week over the longer 498 metre journey.

After just 16 career starts, Stripey Two finished just over three lengths behind the winner in the Listed feature last week before dropping back to race against his age group.

Lush Ice – a son of Fernando Bale – jumped with the field on Tuesday evening from box seven and took over not long after the lids opened and he was not headed again.

“It was a good run, he did well,” Lound said.

“The way he took off, he showed he had a bit of guts to keep on running.

“He done really well, he pushed through real good and I was happy with him.

“I had some doubts about how he would go from out wide but he was able to cross to the rails and take over.”

Lush Ice boasts a career best time of 21.63 seconds over 380 metres at Townsville.

Despite scoring four of his six career victories from boxes six, seven and eight at Townsville, Lound is keen for an inside draw when they are released for the upcoming Young Guns Final.

“Hopefully he can draw on the inside but it does not really matter to him, he will just jump and push his way through,” the veteran dog man said.

Lush Ice did not race between the middle of September and late November as he recovered from a minor injury.

Lound – who has 15 in his kennel - thinks Lush Ice has come back a better dog following the break and thinks his best is yet to come.

Also at Townsville on Tuesday night, Danny Preh’s kennel star Plum Tuckered claimed the City Council Mayors Trophy Final over 498 metres by six lengths.

Top bitch Plum Tuckered won the North Queensland Cup feature just seven days before.

Earlier in the program at Townsville on Tuesday evening, Bobbie-Jean Chaffey recorded a rare milestone in the third event on the card.

Chaffey-trained greyhounds filled the first four places in the race.

Night Buttons won the race for Chaffey before kennel mates Claretown Mac, Sister Emgrand and Where's The Ship followed to the line.