Townsville owner dreams big ahead of Capalaba Cup

By Josh Spasaro 

Part-owner Mark Archer is thinking big with Archer Thirteen.

So big that he has a vision of Archer Thirteen running in next year’s Million Dollar Chase in Sydney.

“He’s an exceptional dog. We’re headed to the Million Dollar Chase with that dog,” he said.

“We always think positive and we know the dog is good. It’s dependent on injuries, but that’s where we’re going to head with him.

“He’ll run 700 metres, no doubt.”

In the meantime, the 22-month-old black dog will be one to beat in the Group 2 Capalaba Cup this Sunday.

The Aston Dee Bee and Xareni Bale chaser produced the third-fastest heat time of 19.48 seconds. A scorching 19.24 second run from Pop Said Yes set the quickest pace of the heats. 

Trained by Selena and Michael Zammit, Archer Thirteen flashed home inside the final 50 metres to salute by two lengths over Gramercy Garry for Andy Mulrine on Sunday.

The fancied Zipping Kravitz and Massaro finished third and fourth, respectively.

“It was expected. The dog has got untapped ability,” the Townsville-based owner said.

“We thought he’d just win with great trainers.”

Now with three wins from eight starts, Archer said Archer Thirteen was well-bred and showed glimpses of his greatness early on.

“We bought him as a puppy from Clint Colaiacovo from Wagga Wagga. His mother’s brother won a Melbourne Cup (Yachi Bale in 2022),” he said.

“So, his breeding speaks for itself. There are some really good lines on the bitch’s side.

“I sent him to George Zammit and when he went to the breakers he broke in really well.

“And, Michael said, ‘This is an exceptional dog’. Clint bred the litter.

“I’ve been in dogs since I was eight years old. We’ve known the Zammit family for a long time. They really know their stuff and they’re good people.”

Archer is confident his 32kg dog can reproduce his impressive heat performance and flash home to win the $112,000 Capalaba Cup Final this Sunday.

“I think he’ll win the race. He’s a strong dog. If he gets anywhere near them in second or third with 50 metres to go, he’ll win the race,” he said.

“He’s strong and powerful.”

Archer, who co-owns Archer Mobile Coffee alongside his wife, Janelle, in Townsville, added his chaser has shown excellent versatility at this juvenile stage of his career.

He was delighted with his win over 520 metres at Q2 Parklands on August 20 - his second victory in five starts.

“If you watch the 520 metre race he won, he had to get around them,” he said.

“It was hard work for him that day because he was drawn out wide.

“I was yarning to Michael about it and we were saying he probably lost six or seven lengths when he won that day, because he had to go wide the whole way.

“If he drew inside, who knows what time he would’ve run.”

Already, Archer believes Archer Thirteen is the pick of the dogs he has owned.

“I’ve been in dogs forever. I came third in the Mackay Cup a long time ago and second in the Townsville Cup a long time ago,” he said.

“He’s the best. We already know that he’s beaten top dogs in trials. He’s beaten some of the best dogs in Queensland.

“I expect him to just win. I’m pretty confident. He tends to drift out and back in, but we like the outside boxes.”