Mr. O’malley ‘deserves’ his crack at the big time

By Pat McLeod

Greyhound academic Douglas Gladman has planned an exciting few weeks for his promising youngster Mr. O’malley, ‘because he deserves it’.

The veteran trainer, renowned for his ground-breaking research findings into numerous key greyhound topics, is first targeting the Capalaba Cup (heats October 5, final October 12) and then most likely the Ipswich Derby on the Q1 Lakeside (heats October 18, final October 25).

And the Aston Rupee x Ally Oop Keats chaser prepares for those lofty assignments with a group-class hit-out at Capalaba on Sunday.

Mr. O’malley will come up against early Capalaba Cup favourites Blue Blend (Jeff Crawford) and Secret Story (Tom Tzouvelis) in the Free For All over 366m.

“I have set him (Mr. O’malley) for this cup, because he deserves it,” Gladman said.

“While there are dogs around that are probably quicker, there is no more honest ones than this dog.

 “If they make a mistake, this one will have them.

“He is in against a very smart field on Sunday. That would be as tough as any Capalaba Cup field.

“But he will race in the Cup heats regardless of how he goes this weekend.

“He is not the best dog in this race, but he is up there amongst them and he is a dog that does everything right.

“He jumps quick, runs straight, gets behind the lure and gets to the line.

“He will never let you down, he is so keen.

“The only time this dog has really been beaten is when he has run into trouble.”

Gladman says he would have preferred his dog to have been closer to the middle instead of box 2 on Sunday and has no doubt where the threats will come from.

“I would have loved him to draw the four or five instead of the two because he is not particularly happy on the inside because he likes to be behind the lure,” he explains.

“As far as the dangers - Blue Blend (box 7) and Secret Story (box 8) are the class dogs in this race and it would be a fairytale for my dog to beat them.

“But as you go up the grades you have to meet these dogs.

“They are among the top straight track dogs in the country and we are taking them on. But my dog would not be in the race if I did not think there was a chance he could win.

“Yes, both of those dogs are two to three lengths quicker than my dog, but if they make a mistake, we are there.

“Of course that is the same for my dog. If he makes a mistake we will be in trouble as well.”

Gladman said he was seriously considering the Ipswich Derby because of its new distance of 457m at the Q1 Parklands since coming across from the Ipswich Showgrounds track.

“Last week he raced over the 390m on the one-turn track and ran that out pretty well, so I am confident that he will get the 457m,” he said.

Mr. O’malley currently leads the points score at Capalaba with 100 points from 22 starts there this year.

Gladman, who admits to a strong fascination with breeding, bought the dog from Victoria. He raced its half-brother, Hudson Bay, with plenty of success before it was retired with a hock injury.

“Hudson Bay was slightly better than this one,” he said.

“He looked like he could have been anything before he was injured.

“It is a very good line and this bloke (Mr. O’malley) is just such a great bread and butter dog.”