Moroney’s staying duo were born for the spotlight

By Josh Spasaro

Both Goldmine Fire and Firethorn were born to run as stayers and on Saturday night they’ll have a shot at a Group 1 fairytale in the Queensland Cup on the Q2 Parklands circuit.

The two-year-old siblings – for Grafton trainer Mark Moroney – are by Group 1-winner Wow and out of Sweet Fire All, the latter who Moroney trained and owns.

Sweet Fire All was a long-distance runner who saluted on nine occasions from 60 starts.

And, despite both being new to chasing over 710 metres – which will be this Saturday's distance in the feature worth $262,505 – Moroney believes their pedigree could see them go on to enjoy great staying careers.

“Their mother was a real dour stayer. She had no pace at all. All of her pups can stay, but for some reason they’ve got a bit of pace about them,” Moroney said.

“Wow was a fantastic greyhound. We had a good dog racing a couple of years ago, Fire Legend.

“He’s at stud now and he ran second to Wow that many times because Wow was just too good for him. That was half the reason I went to him because I knew how good a dog he was.

“He was very strong. Wow was a great dog.”

Goldmine Fire will start from box four and he has 11 wins from 25 starts, while his sister Firethorn has eight victories from just 19 races and she will start next to him on his outside.

“They’re litter mates and their mother’s second litter. The first litter, there were some really good stayers, as well,” Moroney said.

“Jeremiah Fire and She Is Fire – they’re two of the better stayers going around. They’ve got it all ahead of them, really. They might just be waking up to 700 metres. 

“Firethorn’s the quicker dog out of the two. She’s run fast times over the 500 and 600 metres at The Q. She’s a real cracker, but he’s got that reliability about him where he jumps and he normally leads in most of his races.

“It’s a different story stepping up to this grade, but there’s only one way to find out.”

Firethorn was a classy two-and-quarter length winner of her Queensland Cup heat last Thursday night, prevailing in 41.33 seconds.

Goldmine Fire finished a gutsy runner-up and five-and-quarter lengths behind one of the Cup Final favourites Ethanol Water, crossing the line in 41.76 seconds.

He enjoyed a lead on the back straight, before Ethanol Water showed his class to run him down and prevail comfortably in 41.40 seconds.

Moroney was impressed with the heart his talented juvenile stayer displayed to hang on to finish as the runner-up and qualify for the Final.

“He’s a very fit dog. He’s been racing week-in and week-out, but that was his first 700 last week,” the experienced conditioner said.

“He’d been racing over 660 at Grafton, which is a pretty tough run. So, he’d had a lot of work leading into it, but that was his first 700.

“It was a real test for him. He came through it quite well after leading."

Moroney was also delighted with Goldmine Fire’s victory over 660 metres at Grafton on June 21, edging out his sister, Firethorn.

“He beat his litter sister by a nose the start before at Grafton over 660," he said.

“He led her and she almost ran him down. It was a bit of a test for them, really, stepping up to 700 for the first time in that class."

Indeed, both are tracking nicely for the Grafton Stayers Cup on July 17.

“We’re hoping to go to the Grafton Stayers’ Cup with these two in a couple of weeks," he said. 

“We won that race last year with their half-sister, She Is Fire. She Is Fire looked like she was going to be the best stayer in New South Wales. Unfortunately, she broke her hock at the end of last year.

“She broke some track records and won at Wentworth Park and Albion Park over 700.

“And, she made a Sydney Cup Final. She was a real top-class stayer until she broke her hock.

“She’s great. She’s living in the loungeroom with us now. We’re just waiting for her to come on season so we can breed a litter from her.

“We’ve taken these two along the same path and we’re hoping they can do something similar. We’re not quite sure on how good they are yet, but we’ll see over the coming months.”

Moroney currently has seven dogs in work and he has been very impressed with the facilities at The Q, giving him the perfect environment to trial and race his developing stayers.

“It’s a fantastic set-up, the three tracks there, there’s no doubt about that,” he said.

“I’ve been up there trialling and racing nearly every week since it opened, especially with a bunch of stayers.

“There aren’t too many distance races in New South Wales, so they have them every week up there. I love the place, it’s great.”