Britton eyes group racing spoils at the Meadows with stayers
Top Victorian trainer Jeff Britton is adamant staying greyhounds are an under-rated commodity.
“Stayers are the best,” he said this week, making no secret of his affection for distance racing.
“There’s good money on offer for staying events and at the higher level in Australia you compete against the same group of 20 dogs pretty consistently.
“Plus, you don’t have to rely so heavily on the box draw.
“In distance races, you have time to recover if you find early trouble; if you draw poorly or begin badly in a sprint race it can be all over at the start – it’s much more cut-throat and the pool of dogs is so much bigger.
“If you’ve got a stayer in the top bracket and they stay sound, you’re going to finish in the top three more often than not and earn consistently.
“A bitch like Mepunga Ruby is a great example, she’s won 17 of 29 starts (and $213k in stakes) and almost always runs top four.”
Britton suggested it’s unfair to dub stayers as “non-chasers” and believes distance specialists have been unfairly denigrated in the past.
“They’ve traditionally had a bad name but it might be that they just don’t enjoy the pressure of sprint racing or like to ease going into the first corner,” he said.
“I’ve been fortunate that most of mine have been front-running stayers but it doesn’t mean they’re not good chasers.
“My dogs could trial against a sprinter over 500m and compete equally, but they also have the ability to maintain speed over distance so it makes sense to train and race them that way.”
Britton has strong claims for another elite level staying success at The Meadows on Saturday when he launches a two-pronged attack on the $75,000 to the winner G1 TAB Zoom Top (725m).
He rates Mepunga Ruby (box 2) his best winning chance on the opening night of the 2022 Australian Cup Carnival but is not entirely dismissing the chances of kennel mate Hank The Hustler (box 3).
“Ruby’s favourite ($2.40 with betting sites) and she’s drawn okay for her,” Britton said.
“I’m just hoping she gets a clear run and can show her true ability.
“There’s pace out wide from the seven (Gypsy Wyong, $7.50) and the eight (Untapped, $15.00) especially so she needs to get away quickly.
“She’s run well in big races previously but in others things haven’t gone right for her. It would be nice if she didn’t have to rely on luck from back in the field.
“Hank’s ($4.60) really consistent and not far behind her. They’re both beautiful dogs and it’s good to have a second genuine hope in a G1 race if we need a Plan B. I really won’t mind if either of them is good enough to win.”
Britton lines up Mepunga Warrior, a litter mate to Mepunga Ruby, from box 4 in the $75,000 to the winner G1 TAB Rookie Rebel over 600m.
He comes up against the captivating Jungle Deuce ($2.10 fav) who will be out to extend a white-hot streak of winning form to eight and starts from box 1 for visiting NSW trainer Jack Smith.
“Jungle Deuce is obviously going to be hard to beat, he’s flying at the moment,” Britton said.
“It is a race that’s very hard to read though, there’s a few unknowns, particularly with some of the interstaters.
“Mepunga Warrior ($10.00 with online bookmakers) is very consistent and he’s had seven starts at the track and distance for four wins and two seconds.
“He’s a good dog whose proven at the track coming up against dogs who’ve never had a start at The Meadows so we don’t really know what they can do.
“But I think Jarick Bale (box 3, $4.60 for trainer Mark Dellbridge) will probably be the hardest for Jungle Deuce to beat.”
In the third and richest G1 of the night, the $100,000 to the winner TAB Temlee (525m), the Britton kennel will be represented by Adelaide Cup winner Do It ($16.00) from an unsuitable box 6 draw.
He takes on cult hero Aston Rupee (box 4) who will be out for feature race atonement after shock defeats in two of his past three outings including a heat of the Paws of Thunder behind Irinka Riley.
“Do It has been all over the countryside,” Britton said of his talented chaser who boasts 17 wins and $276k in stake earnings.
“In his past eight starts he’s raced in Victoria, Tasmania, New South Wales and Queensland.
“He didn’t travel quite as well to Brisbane most recently and we had to pick up his weight a bit once he arrived but he’s had nine days to recover now and he knows The Meadows well – he’s been in the money at 12 of his 14 starts there.
“Do It doesn’t really like the draw wide, but it’s one of those races. There’s a few that could get in the way of Aston Rupee ($1.90 fav) and we know he’s an absolute superstar at Sandown but in the past he hasn’t performed as well at The Meadows.”
Saturday night’s meeting also features five preliminaries of the Australian Cup where competitors will be fighting for the remaining eight places in the Australian Cup heats at the same track a week later.