Eight pups will reach the conclusion of a two year journey when they take their place in Saturday night's Group Two Puppy Auction Final at Ipswich.
The race is worth no less than $40,000 to-the-winner, which is certainly nothing to be sneezed at for these young greyhounds.
Are Ate is likely to start an odds-on favourite for Park Ridge South mentor Rachel Scott. He won the Group Two Devonport Cup earlier in the year and has been sizzling around the Ipswich circuit over the first two weeks of the series.
Jan Warner will rug up two starters for the race in a field that includes five greyhounds trained by female trainers.
Let's take a look in detail at how they measure up;
Comments: Patricia Carrington (Trainer): “Box two is good but I don't think he can run the five-hundred out real strong. He jumps alright, it is just that last little bit he seems to struggle. Anything happens in those big races I just hope he can lead and hang on in that last little bit. We'd love him to win for the fellow who owns him, Robert Olsen, he lives up in Townsville.”
Comments: Jan Warner (Trainer): “We are not too unhappy with her coming from box three, she is a good jumper. If she can jump and land in front, it will take a lot for someone to run us down. She is a length quicker than Femme Jolie at the moment. They are both still very young.”
Comments: Jan Warner (Trainer): “We would have preferred her to get box eight. She was actually a bit sick before the series and it was touch-and-go whether she would race or not. She is a promising pup, we have had an offer for her but we knocked it back, we feel we are going to have a lot of fun with her. I'm expecting to see a big improvement from her.”
Comments: ARG opinion is: Consistent type who landed a 30.68 win here a fortnight ago. Can be a little tardy early in his races and, as a result, may need some luck from this awkward draw.
Comments: Mike Chapman (Co-Trainer): “The draw looks good, the five tends to crash left and the seven and eight stay off the track. We are confident that if he can lead, he should really win the race. It would be a big thrill for the owners, they bought the pup at six weeks of age. They have a few other pups with us and have had some luck, it would be good if they could win this race.”
Comments: ARG opinion is: Promising young pup who only tasted defeat for the first time last week. Would probably need to find a length or so to be a winning hope but has plenty of scope for improvement with this being just her fifth race start.
Comments: Don Massey (Co-Trainer): “We don't hold much hope from box eight, we really wanted to be drawn closer to the inside. I think from out there it is just going to be too hard to get across. He is really more of a 431 metre dog. We just have to hope there's a bit of a mix-up and we get the fly.”
Comments: ARG opinion is: Has performed well over shorter distances at Ipswich but is yet to flatter over the longer trips. Is a definite improver but would need luck to feature in this race.
Best Ipswich Times
Best
Last
Sect. Best
Sect. Last
NBT
31.01
N/A
5.51
All things being equal, it is hard to see anything beating the Devonport Cup winner Are Ate. The only slight concern is how easily he can find the front, with some speed coming from the likes of Coach Little and Masai Princess on the inside.
The only other unknown quantity is how much improvement some of these very young dogs have in them. Oh That's Nice and Femme Jolie only need to find a length or two to be genuine contenders and that is not beyond the realms of possibility.
It augurs well for a super final come Saturday night.
