Tony Parker looks to the city with Slim Nikita

By Josh Spasaro

Tony Parker has a couple of strongly bred greyhounds who are a good chance to give him his first Country Cup triumph at Q2 Parklands on Thursday night.

The conditioner based outside Ayr in North Queensland qualified two chasers for the decider – Slim Nikita and Organised Kaos.

They finished first and third in the Townsville version of the Country Cup Final on January 20.

Reserve dog Slim Nikita stormed home over 498 metres in 28.75 seconds, with Organised Kaos crossing the line in 28.94 seconds.

Both are just two years old. They are litter brothers by Superior Panama and are out of a former chaser for Jedda Cutlack, She’s Sweet.

They were bred by champion Park Ridge-based trainer Tom Tzouvelis.

By Zambora Brockie, She’s Sweet was a city-class bitch, saluting on nine occasions from 35 starts.

“I know she was pretty handy and a Tzouvelis breed. He breeds with quality bitches and he always breeds for strength,” Parker said.

“So, you know they’re going to be strong. Tommy has been really good to me.

“He just saw those pups as a little bit immature and weren’t quite ready for down there. I had three of them – She’s Saintly who I won a QGOLD with, Slim Nikita and Organised Kaos.

“I’ve got another one here (Flying Argos) at the moment. He’s probably not quite as strong as them. He picked up a toe injury, but I’m hopefully getting him back on the track soon.

“The whole litter has shown some promise. With Tommy’s, you know they’re usually going to be pretty strong.”

Slim Nikita – with five wins from 24 starts – showed all of that strength in his impressive win in the Townsville Country Cup Final.

“He was really strong. He hasn’t got a lot of early speed, but the dog runs on really nicely,” Parker said. 

“He’s been to the (Q2) track before. He trialled there on Friday and Tommy was pretty happy with how he went.

“The dog is going well. He just needs to get a clean run, stay out of trouble and he’ll let them know he’s there.”

A $26 outsider, Parker knew Slim Nikita was capable of his performance in the Townsville Country Cup Final, but was still taken aback at how he ran down eventual runner-up, Jackknifed.

“I was not surprised how he finished, just how he ran down the dogs in front. Dogs like Jackknifed normally don’t get run down once they’re up near the lead,” Parker said.

“Just the way he went past them, because he’s still a young dog, that was a little bit (surprising), especially when he got in as a reserve.

“It was nice because he sort of came from the clouds. I was watching the seven who was one of my other runners and he was leading.

“He’s his litter brother, Organised Kaos. It was literally the last 50 metres he put in the big ones and got the job done.”

Before his Townsville Country Cup Final triumph, Slim Nikita had not won in seven starts since November 21.

But, Parker said he showed an increased level of maturity to salute last start in a quality field which also featured kennelmate Maisie Moo Moo, along with Southpaw Mcgraw, who respectively have 14 and 13 wins.

“The wins he had before that (last start) were in restricted win company, so he was getting some soft wins,” he said.

“Running decent times though. And, then he was put into open class. He went from fifth grade to fourth grade, which is pretty much open company when you get into fourth grade.

“And, he had no luck at all. He kept finding trouble and running up the rear ends of dogs.

“The other night he showed a bit of brains and worked his way through the field.”

Parker said a Country Cup Final victory would mean a lot to him.

“My Dad came second with a dog called Sprightly Bro a few years ago,” Parker said.

“I took that dog down for him. And, then he backed up the next year and got (caught up in traffic) on the first bend.

“He did well to make it two years in a row. He was in my Dad’s name as a trainer then. But, these are my first couple I’ve had in it."

A bumper evening of feature racing will also showcase the running of the Group 1 Gold Bullion and Gold Cup, Group 3 Golden Oldies and Vince Curry Memorial at Q2 Parklands on Thursday night.

“It would be great to win, especially at the new track. It’ll be the first time I’ve been there," Parker said.

“It’ll be good to see the new facility and on a night like that it’s always nice to have a winner.”