No Hidden talent for Thomson stayers

By Jordan Gerrans

Experienced trainer Graham Thomson and one of his loyal owners feel they have executed a clever long-term plan to land two runners in Friday’s Stayers Challenge Final at Townsville.

The feature Stayers Challenge is one of the key support races on Townsville Cup night, which is headlined by the Group 2 Cup with $75,000 going the way of the winner.

The Stayers Challenge is run over 643 metres which is the distance the Townsville Cup was raced over between 1981 and 1991.

It was altered to a 498 metre event in 1992 and has run that way since. 

 The 60-year-old Thomson will campaign litter mates Hidden Radar and Hidden Fury in Friday’s Final after Fury claimed one of the two heats on Friday of last week.

The Stayers Challenge Final is held every year but the last few editions have been the first time heats have been run for the event, such is the strength in the Townsville staying contingent at the moment.

Radar and Fury have predominantly raced over 498 metres during their Townsville racing tenure but after they ticked past three years of age, Thomson was starting to notice they lacked that brilliant dash they had earlier in their careers.

“The owner of Hidden Radar and I concocted it and talked about this little plan a while ago,” the veteran trainer said.

“We knew these dogs were over running the 498 metre trip, they had lost their speed for that distance.

“They are just a little slower as they get older but they are a bit stronger, so we decided to put them over the distance.

“The plan has worked out so far, we knew what we were doing to get them where they needed to be.

“We got the runs in that we really wanted and the dogs seem to have handled it well.”

Radar is raced by the Sydney-based Shaun Nelson who has been a long-term kennel owner for Thomson.

While Nelson and Thomson had the plan, the only problem was that the Townsville club rarely holds races from the 643 metre boxes outside of Cup carnival time.

And, the boxes were going through a little makeover in preparation for the carnival earlier this year.

Thomson jokes that he was hounding Townsville Greyhound Racing Club President Gary Heath for some time to ensure the boxes were ready so he could get a few runs into his stayers ahead of last week’s heats.

The Hidden duo had their first race day appearance from the starting boxes at the start of last month and have had three runs since.

They are from a Nolen and East Of Blue mating and have combined to win 20 races and almost $100,000 in career stakes.

“It was important to have a few races over that trip before the Cup carnival,” he said.

The 643 metre starting boxes at Townsville open up and lead towards the home straight for over 100 metres before the first turn.

Thomson – who has been in dogs since he was a teenager – believes the new starting spot has given Radar a new lease on life.

Fury claimed the first of the two heats last Friday evening in 37.96 seconds from the seven alley with litter mate Radar running into third.

Robert Lound’s Ferocious June scored in the second of the heats in 37.53 seconds.

Lound’s smart black bitch has also had four runs from the 643 metre starting boxes since they reopened and has not missed a top-two finish.

Ferocious June has drawn well in the two on Friday night for the decider while the Hidden kennel mates will commence from five and six.

“Ferocious June has got a mighty finish on her from behind,” Thomson said.

The Jensen-based conditioner has had Fury and Radar in his kennel since they were only 16 months of age.

He says he takes pride in working closely with his dogs through the ups and downs of their career and enjoys the challenge of getting a greyhound back to their best form after they have had a poor run.

That is highlighted by Fury’s recent form as the dark brindle dog has only missed the money once in his last 10 starts, which has included three victories.

“These dogs of mine have gone up and down three or four times and it is a challenge to get them back to their purple patch of racing,” the veteran dog man said.

“You need to persevere with the dogs to bring them back up to their top. They both have hit a purple patch lately.”

Tap Out Mickey from the Carol Pickard kennel won the Stayers Challenge Final on Townsville Cup night last year.