Daysea’s Max hitting his peak ahead of Young Guns Final

By Josh Spasaro

Daysea’s Max is one of the standouts from the Aston Rupee and Nando Dreamer litter, but owner and trainer Claude Dacey admits to having doubts about him early on.

Those reservations are now well and truly in the past, with the two-year-old black dog to line up in the Capalaba Young Guns Final on Sunday.

He will jump from box four and looms as one of the chasers to beat after winning his past four starts.

However, Dacey said he needed some patience with him early after winning just once at maiden level from his first eight races.

Daysea’s Max now has a respectable 16 wins from 33 starts, including a victory over 457 metres at Q1 Lakeside on August 8.

“When I got him, he took a long time to get going,” the veteran 92-year-old conditioner said.

“I didn’t even think he’d run 457 metres the way he was going. You just keep working them and keep them happy. 

"They’re always happy and if they’re happy, they’ll run good.

“I knew how quick he was early and then he just kept getting better after that.”

Oliver Go is the other performing litter sibling, with 13 wins from 43 starts for David Sloan.

Dacey acquired Daysea’s Max for his Gilberton kennels, near the Gold Coast, after he owned the dam, Nando Dreamer.

He said Daysea’s Max had an ideal chaser’s temperament.

“Nando Dreamer was my bitch. I sold her to David Sloan and I got a pup from his litter,” he said.

“That was how I got him. He’s just a good dog. All he wants to do is race.”

Rupesh ran the fastest Capalaba Young Guns heat time of 19.63 seconds for Melissa Jordan last Sunday.

The black dog by Shima Shine and out of Tingle is also in good form, winning his past three starts.

But, Dacey said he was confident about Daysea’s Max, who flashed home to win his heat in 19.78 seconds.

He will jump from box four in Sunday’s Final, which is worth $11,800.

“I love box four,” Dacey said.

“His start is the thing that gets him. He usually misses it. He came from behind last week.

“It was a big run. They didn’t run flash times, but the way he galloped was impressive. He’s got a good finish on him.

“He’s got to be first out. I said that last week and he was last out, but it’s a bit harder this week.”

Dacey added Daysea’s Max was good enough to qualify for the Group 2 Capalaba Cup Final on October 11.

His best effort from his past four consecutive wins at Capalaba was 19.56 seconds on September 2.

“We’re going to go to Q1 Lakeside. I like Q1. We’ll take him back for city meetings. The only other race at Capalaba would be the Capalaba Cup,” he said.

“I’m thinking that, but it’ll just depend on how he goes because he’s got to go a bit quicker. But, he seems to be getting quicker.”

Dacey reserved praise for his son, Robbie, who is the handler for Daysea’s Max.

“He has been going great handling the dog. He does all the work. I just supervise,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dacey dismissed any talk that 2025 Queensland Greyhound of the Year, which he owns, Daysea’s Rory, had run his last race.

The four-year-old fawn dog with almost $670,000 in career prizemoney had his last start on July 11.

“He’s not retired. He’s definitely going to come back and race again,” he said.

“He’s had a couple of injuries – that’s why he’s been off for so long. It’s taken a while to get over the injuries.

“I’ll take him to Capalaba and give him a run. He’s probably another three weeks off. I won’t trial him; I’ll just put him straight into racing.”