Wide alley the perfect start for Ringbark Larry in Lakeside Cup heat

By Josh Spasaro

South East Queensland trainer Jeff Crawford says ‘the wider the better’ for Ringbark Larry, who has drawn box seven for the second Lakeside Cup Heat at Q1 Lakeside over 457 metres on Saturday night.

The promising blue two-year-old dog has been in excellent form, winning three of his past four starts.

A couple of those victories came from box seven, and the other from the eight lane, so Crawford was happy he was allocated the black bib in the $11,000 race.

“The wider the better at this place. My dogs aren’t renowned lid pingers,” the experienced conditioner said.

“But, they’ve got strength on their side and that long back straight gives them every opportunity to be able to balance up and find a position heading into that top turn.

“And, he has won from wide-on sitting wide, too. So, he’s got no problem going around a dog, but this is a big step up in class on Saturday.”

Crawford, who is based at Buccan, just south of Brisbane, said Ringbark Larry was continuously raising the bar and was a pleasure to train.

“He’s a very nice young dog. He’s improving all the time with racing and he seems to have really adapted to one-turn racing well,” he said.

“He held the track record there for a couple of weeks until it was recently broken by Greg Stella’s good young pup (Marquee Player with 25.16 second performance over 457 metres).”

By Group 1 Brisbane Cup-winner Sennachie and out of Ringbark Ruby, who saluted 10 times from 69 starts, Crawford said Ringbark Larry knew when to lift his intensity and when to relax.

“He’s all business,” he said.

“He’s a very reserved type of dog until he gets onto the track and switches on and wants to be a race dog.

“He’s a very nice dog to train, the whole litter I’ve got are.”

Ringbark Larry has also displayed plenty of heart on the front straight, often gaining speed after navigating the turn for home.

“He surprised me the way he hit the line in his first start. And, I got quite excited that he was able to do that, knowing that he was going to run further than 500 metres later on,” Crawford said.

“He’s had the benefit of a look at the Q2 now and broke 30 (seconds) in his first look. So, he’s obviously a dog who can handle a step up in trip.

“From a 431 metre race at Ipswich, where he’d only raced prior to going to the Q1, he’s been able to handle that step up quite well.

“He pulls up quite well from a run, too, which is really exciting.”

Crawford said he didn’t need to watch a replay of Ringbark Larry’s last start, when his three-race winning streak was broken with a fourth place at fifth grade level, also over 457 metres at Q1 Lakeside.

The two-year-old, with six wins from 13 starts, managed to recover from an early check which put him back to sixth, before recovering with his renowned speed on the home straight, finishing less than a length off third spot.

“To be honest I haven’t seen the replay. I haven’t thought about it since, but my wife (Jane) said he was driving between a couple of leaders and just got checked out,” Crawford said

“But, had he got through, he wins the race. So very unlucky in that respect.

“But, he still finished off the race very well and he seems to be in good fettle going into Saturday.”

Jeff Crawford said Sydney trainer Ken Burnett travelling up with last-start Group 1 Golden Easter Egg winner Power And Glory – to take on Ringbark Larry from box one in heat two – was a massive boost for greyhound racing in Queensland.

The superstar three-year-old crossed the line in 24.93 seconds in his first look at the Q1, becoming the first to break 25 seconds over the 457m distance.

“To be able to get a headline act like him up here to support our racing, although I’ve got a dog in the race so it’s probably not perfect,” Crawford said.

“But, overall, it’s good for our industry to have a dog such as him. Every heat is full of some really nice pups, obviously headed by Power And Glory. Ken is a really good bloke. I’ve known Ken for many years, ever since I got involved in dogs back in 2005.

“I don’t think there’d be a person I’m happier to see with a dog of that calibre. He fully deserves it.”

Crawford also has in-form chasers Validate, Volatile and Blue Bend lining up in the Lakeside Cup Heats.

“Blue Bend, he broke the track record in a trial. He went quicker than what Ringbark Larry ran in a race and it’s been broken since then,” he said.

“But, that was first look. He went 25.30 seconds. So, I expect if he can get a trouble-free run very early he’s going to put himself in the race at some point.

“He’s a very good dog. His box manners are a bad trait and he doesn’t like getting crowded.

“Going into the first bend he’ll step off if there are dogs around him. But, he’s just a rock. I’m stoked that he’s boxed wide (six). Box eight would’ve been even more ideal, but he’s a good dog.

“Volatile has won his last two starts. He’s not as fast as the two we’ve just talked about, but he’s going to win his fair share of races.

“And, Validate, we just tried to get him back after an injury that he picked up in the heats of the Rocky Cup. He’s not going as good as I’d like, but we’re hoping to run him back into form.”