Denied Bail looking for break out maiden win

By Josh Spasaro

Owner and breeder Vince Mackenzie-Ross was not hugely impressed with the way his three maidens performed during their education phase.

But, they do have a few things in their favour.

Lily’s Idea, Denied Bail and Pending Trial will all be mentored by top Central Queensland conditioners, Andrew and Kelly Suli.

All three 20-month-old chasers will contest maiden heats over 407 metres, with bitches Lily’s Idea and Pending Trial to make their debuts.

Denied Bail has shown some potential in his four career races to date, finishing runner-up on Sunday.

The three litter siblings are also by Fernando Bale and out of Inspired Hope, who has excelled as a broodbitch for Mackenzie-Ross and his partner, Donna Darcy, who are based at Ballina in New South Wales.

But, Mackenzie-Ross is not getting too carried away at their potential just yet.

“They’re all very young and immature, that litter. That was why we sent them up to Andrew and his wife,” he said.

“Andrew is pretty successful up there, isn’t he?

“They all broke in average and they’re very immature. John Martin broke them in. He breaks in all our dogs.”

What cannot be played down is the sensation that Inspired Hope has been as a dam for Mackenzie-Ross.

Magistrate is her top progeny, also by Fernando Bale, who won $508,010 in career prizemoney due to 34 wins from 90 starts for Park Ridge trainer Gregory Stella.

“Inspired Hope is a litter sister to Sequana. There were only two bitches in that litter, Sequana and Inspired Hope. And, they both turned out to be good broodbitches,” Mackenzie-Ross said.

Inspired Hope only won seven from 22 starts for Stella, but she is out of Lilly Sur Seine, with four of her chasers earning over $100,000, including Sequana. 

“You don’t know how they’ll go as broodbitches. It was a good line, so it was worth giving it a go,” Mackenzie-Ross said. 

“This was her last litter and she’s living at David Sloan’s property.

“All the pups get reared at Grafton with Mick and Tracy Hindmarsh.”

Meanwhile, Mackenzie-Ross said Magistrate had begun his sire career on Stella’s property, with the 2023 Origin Greyhound Series hero having an exciting recent mating.

“Mania was one of them, a Victorian bitch. She’s a litter sister to Equalizer,” he said.

“So, we thought that was worth having a crack. It should be a good litter.

“They’ll race with Greg or Warren Nicholls. It depends on how much room Greg’s got. Greg only has a small number of dogs.

“If he’s limited for numbers then we give them to Warren in Brisbane. They’re only six months old. The first litter might be seven or eight months.”