Days Of Thunder primed for National Distance Championship Final
Like Cole Trickle in the 1990s classic movie Days Of Thunder which she is named after, Warren Nicholls' two-year-old has had to overcome some mental hurdles to get to where she is.
But the Queensland conditioner believes she is primed to give a good account of herself in the National Distance Championship Final at Wentworth Park on Saturday night.
This is despite the generous $15 winning odds offered by Ladbrokes.
Indeed, they are good odds because of her form – she has saluted in five of her past seven starts, including her last in the Queensland Distance Championship Final on August 11.
And just as importantly, Nicholls has been impressed with her work on the track leading up to the $103,000 feature over 720m.
“She's looking good. She's had a good couple of weeks work and she's ready,” he told Australian Racing Greyhound.
“She's as good as she's going to be. The past couple of months she's been exceptional.”
One drawback to Days Of Thunder's impressive career so far – with 12 wins from 37 starts – has been her tardiness at times when coming out of the boxes.
She overcame that to win the Queensland title over 710m at Albion Park two weeks ago, prevailing by a length over Ned Snow's consistent performer Oh Oh Range.
In fact, after crossing the finishing post for the first time she was a whopping 15 lengths off the pace before a mighty effort on the straight.
Nicholls admits he'd like to see Days Of Thunder start better on Saturday night.
“I'd like to see her a little bit closer, to be honest, the little bugger,” he said with a smile.
“She got a couple of hits and got chopped down early in a couple of 630m races.
“I think she's a bit wary of the first couple hundred metres or so since when trying to get comfortable and then going.
“But you might need a psychologist for that one, I think. It gets into her head.”
Nicholls would love to see his star stayer follow the blueprint of her Ipswich Grand Prix win on July 23, where from box six she took the lead at the first turn.
From there, she went on to comfortably prevail by 8.5 lengths.
“Ideally, it (starting well) would be great. There's nothing better than being in front most of the way,” Nicholls said.
“The Grand Prix was good – there was only one other dog with early speed.
“I'm quite convinced if she does that again she'll be a chance.”
Days Of Thunder will again start from box six on Saturday night.
“We're not worried about box six. We've had some success there and won a couple of races out of it,” Nicholls said.
“We're happy with the draw.”
Like superstar actor Tom Cruise playing Trickle when he first tries NASCAR racing in the box-office hit of 1990, Days Of Thunder, Nicholls' stayer experienced some issues over 510m, 520m and 630m.
She won two of 11 starts to begin her career over these distances, before finding her niche at 710m and beyond.
“Her confidence in her early races was an issue. Her strength was always there – she always showed us that,” Nicholls said.
“We tried her over 600 and she got an inside draw. They came across and knocked her into the rail, which turned her off a bit.
“But we just thought ‘bugger it, we'll just keep running her over 700 and she won't get into as much trouble early'.”
Nicholls said David Smith's three-year-old bitch Super Estrella was deserving of her $1.60 winning odds with online bookmakers.
“No disrespect to anyone else, but she's really at the top of her game now and she has a lot of strength at the end of her races,” Nicholls said.
“She's the one to beat by far.”
Saturday night's 10-race Nationals Night card is set to draw a big crowd to Sydney's home of greyhound racing.
In an incentive to punters, the first 1000 adults through the gate will receive free entry, race book and a $15 food and beverage voucher.
Then it will be free entry and a $5 voucher for every adult after that.
The night will include food trucks, open bars, plenty of entertainment with a world-leading magician, DJ, facepainting, a jumping castle and lots of other activities and giveaways.