Farmin ready to plough through to a Howard Ashton triumph
LAUREN Harris is confident her promising youngster Farmin has what it takes to score in Thursday night's Group 3 Howard Ashton (515m) final at Angle Park.
The son of Djays Octane and Kiowa Angel is yet to win throughout the series, finishing second in his heat and third in his semi-final, however he holds a 29.95 personal best over the track and trip which is the quickest time of the eight finalists.
Despite running third in his semi-final, it was a super effort from Farmin which did not hit the accelerator until the home turn when a space opened up on the inside.
On the line, Farmin was only beaten three quarters of a length, with Harris expecting further improvement with more experience.
“He is a lovely dog and he is only lightly raced so I think he is improving every time we put him around,” Harris told Australian Racing Greyhound.
“He hasn't learned how to run around a dog yet – he still sits and waits on the rail for a gap and then he takes off – but with clear running he is capable of breaking 30 easily.”
Thursday's final will be his third run back from a short break due to injury and Harris says her charge should be getting fitter.
“He had a bit of time off prior to the series because he had a badly split webbing and since he has come back he hasn't been showing the same box speed – but I am hoping he can put it together on Thursday night.
“I always seem to find that they can take three or four runs back from a break to reach their best and this will be his third run so hopefully he figures it out.”
Farmin is drawn ideally in box two for the $25,000 feature which is open to SA bred dogs only. He meets a handy field including Crunchin Numbers (box four), Deputy Speaker (box six) and Usain's Squeeze (box eight), however Harris says he can match it with them if he gets some luck in the early stages.
“He is going to have to begin a bit better and hopefully find the rail – if they spread out a bit in the field he can push up and hopefully take the win,” she said.
“I think he can do it – there are dogs from out wide which tend to show some pace – but I am hoping they will stay off the fence a little bit.
“If he can get a spot on the fence he will be finishing it off strongly – he has the fastest last section of the field so hopefully he can get close enough in the early stages.”
Harris, who trains 23 dogs from her Finniss property with her partner Ryan Tugwell, said it would be an enormous thrill to take home the trophy on Thursday night.
“Terry Mccallum owns the dog so it would be a big thrill for all of us if he is able to win – on top of that we have only recently moved to a new property so to make a group final this soon and to see the results is really exciting.”
The Group 3 Howard Ashton is race eight at Angle Park this Thursday night and is set to jump at 9.49pm.