Magpie Hector out for luck in Queensland Cup heats

By Josh Spasaro

Raymond Smith says he would like to be a tough taskmaster on the recent performances of his star stayer, Magpie Hector, but he has just lacked a bit of luck.

The experienced conditioner is based at Forbes in New South Wales. 

Magpie Hector, who is a three-time Group 1 champion, has not saluted since the heats of The 715 at The Gardens on April 24.

That was five starts back. The two-year-old brindle dog will contest the first Queensland Cup heat at Q2 Parklands this Saturday night.

Smith believes the 2026 Association Cup, Fanta Bale Stayers and Zoom Top champion just hasn’t had the greyhound racing gods on his side in recent weeks.

Those races have included a seventh in the Origin Distance last Thursday night, after a runner-up finish in the Sandown Cup Final on May 22.

“I realise he finished seventh in the Origin Distance. But, I looked at the run and thought when interference occurred, he was sort of looming to follow the five, the runner-up Ayden’s Warrior,” Smith said.

“You can’t say he would’ve won, but he was situated nicely, so there’s not much you can do about it.

“And, the Sandown Cup, that was his fault. He made a decision to go for an inside run and it wasn’t there.

“It was an enormous run. I’m not complaining about running second in the Sandown Cup, but if you look at the run you could easily think he might’ve won it.

“That’s racing. He’s got three Group 1s in the bag and a few placings, so we’re not complaining.”

Magpie Hector also had to overcome some early jostling for position in The 715 Final before finishing fourth on May 1.

“He’s trialling the place down, but he’s just not had any luck. I’m a pretty tough marker and I’d like to call him out if I thought he wasn’t there at the moment,” Smith said.

“But, he’s just had no luck. We’re not complaining – he’s been good to us, so it’ll turn around. Hopefully it’s this week. If it doesn’t, we’ll move on.”

The consistent Magpie Hector has 17 wins to his name from 38 career starts.

In recent weeks, he might not have benefitted from any fortunate breaks on race night.

But, you cannot question the quality of the Feral Franky and Foxy Bourbski stayer. Smith trained his sire to the Group 1 2019 Vic Peters Classic title.

“He’s a very fast dog. When you see him in a staying race, you think he’s got no speed at all,” he said.

“But, if you trial him, he runs near track records over 500 metres.

“He broke the track record at The Gardens over a 500 metre trial. And, Gunnedah he ran the second-fastest time there.

“His father was the only dog who ran faster. He’s got a big motor, but he’s still learning.

“I know he’s had 30 or so starts, but I’m hoping as a stayer that he’ll learn to wait for these runs, instead of pushing a little bit.”

Magpie Hector’s litter brother is the recently-retired Slick Splits. Slick Splits won last year’s Group 1 Topgun at The Meadows, before finishing his career with 18 wins from 36 starts.

Genetically, both Magpie Hector and Slick Splits were blessed with the ability to recover fast from their race starts.

“Their make-up or whatever you’d like to call it – they rebound really quickly. Their constitution,” Smith said.

“They have a run and you just look at him afterwards and think he doesn’t look exhausted.

“That’s just in the blood and Feral was the same – the recovery rate was unbelievable.”

Drawing box one for this Saturday night’s first Queensland Cup heat, which is worth $13,440, might just be the small dose of good fortune that Magpie Hector needed.

“A lot of people think he’s better suited wide. I think he’d be better off on the inside for a bit more luck at the first turn because from box one nothing is going to run you off,” Smith said.

“It’s up to him.”