Elson’s glass ‘half full’ after tough Golden Chase draw

By Pat McLeod

Sunshine Coast trainer Travis Elson has taken a ‘glass half full’ approach to what appears to be a horror draw for his three contenders in Saturday night’s Golden Chase Sprint Final on the Q1 Lakeside track.

“My wife Hope, saw the draw, and said ‘you are not going to be happy’,” Elson revealed of the box draw for littermates Summer’s Dunay (four), Hope’s Jacky (five) and Scrub’s Blue (six).

“But, when I saw it, I thought, ‘actually we can work with what we have got’. It is not the end of the world.

“It may look like an absolutely terrible draw, but the way the three dogs have drawn with their racing aspects, it probably isn't too bad.

“Summer’s Dunay gets out very quickly and drops to the rail fast. Hope's Jacky, he can tend to miss the start.

“And, Scrub’s Blue runs more of a straight line and tracks one or two off the fence. So, it is not devastating.”

Elson took out the opening leg of the Golden Chase Series, the Golden Chase Straight over 350 metres, with Scrub’s Blue in early March.

This time around Brisbane trainer Jemma Daley, who had two runners in the Golden Chase Straight, appears to be holding a winning hand.

She has both semi-final winners well boxed – Hara’s Neo (one) and Hara’s Oden (eight) – as well as Hara’s Otis (two).

Elson predicted Hara’s Oden as the dog to beat.

However, he isn’t waving the white flag just yet.

“Jemma has speed in both of her runners coming out of the one and the eight,” Elson said.

“She has drawn pretty well and the eight is probably drawn perfectly. And, he is probably the strongest dog in the race.

“We just have to hope that he stays in the boxes and lets us get a head start on him because he is the dog to beat.

“But, Hara’s Neo is also going super and is out of the red. I think there is only two or three lengths across this whole field. I don't think it is a clear-cut race.

“It will be all about who gets to the front at that corner, because from there they will be hard to beat.

“Of mine, Hope’s Jacky has the quickest time over track and distance. He is by far the best dog of the three, but so far, I haven't been able to get that potential out of him.

“It is just his box manners. He is definitely the strongest of mine and can run the time to win this race and it wouldn't surprise me if he jumped and won.

“However, on form Scrub’s Blue is probably my best chance. He is ultra consistent and he will be trying. He will be up on the pace.”

The Golden Chase Series is only open to dogs who went through the nomination process just over 18 months ago.

“This has been a good little series for us,” Elson said.

“The final leg of this series (the 520 metre Golden Chase later this year) will be even better for some of mine because right now they are babies who have just turned two.

“As this series goes longer, I am interested to see how mine mature and perform for that last leg.”