Wonderful Work faces biggest test in Flying Amy heat

By Josh Spasaro

David Burnett admits he is stepping into the unknown with Wonderful Work in the first Flying Amy Classic heat at Q2 Parklands on Thursday night.

In just his seventh start, the two-year-old blue dog will compete in a quality field over 520 metres that includes King Of Gods for Dave Irwin and Consigliere for top Victorian trainer Jason Thompson.

King Of Gods has 11 wins from 29 starts, while Consigliere also boasts 11 victories from 28 starts and more than $183,000 in prizemoney.

By Fernando Bale and out of Burnett’s former chaser Ma’s Plum Jam, Wonderful Work already has four wins to his name, all coming in Melbourne.

But, it will be another step up for him in his assignment this week.

“It’s a learning curve. I brought him up to keep the other dog company who I came up with,” Burnett said.

The trainer is based at Little River, near Geelong in regional Victoria.

“So later in life, when he comes back up here, he'll be very competitive," he said. 

“I don’t know how he’ll go on this track on Thursday night. He’s only young – he’s had four wins out of six in Melbourne.”

That other dog who Burnett came up with for the Queensland Winter Greyhound Racing Carnival is Wonderful Work’s half-brother, Keep Rolling.

The two-year-old black dog by Feral Franky and also out of Ma’s Plum Jam will jump from box four in the $24,000 Brisbane Cup Prelude, also over 520 metres, at Q2 Parklands on Thursday night.

He has won his past two starts in Melbourne.

“Early on, I thought he had a lot of potential. At the moment he’s wanting to race and be on the track,” Burnett said.

“If he can put together what he’s been doing in Melbourne, he’ll be very competitive on Thursday night.”

Burnett said Wonderful Work, who will jump from box two, will have to be on his game in order to progress to next Thursday night’s Group 1 Flying Amy Classic Final.

“It’s going to be hard and he’s got to do everything right, doesn’t he?” he said.

“He didn’t trial that well on Sunday, which was disappointing. But, that was his first time on the plane and his first time up here.

“So, he’ll improve a bit from that. He ran 30.01 seconds at The Meadows, which is acceptable in winning his maiden.

“This is his test against quality here. It’s a lot harder when you’ve got full fields and experienced dogs against you.

“Whatever he does, he’ll improve on.”

Burnett trained multiple Group 1 champion Simon Told Helen to over $912,000 in total prizemoney.

The black dog by Barcia Bale and out of Who Told Lindylu was a life-changer for him.

“He’s the dog you look for in greyhound racing. It’s hard to get back up to that level,” he said.

“I’ve got good dogs now, but he was two steps ahead of them.

“Just his desire to chase, no matter where he was in the field. He’d go through a little split and put 20 lengths on the field.

“He was an absolute freak. When the lids came up, he was just gone.”