It’s All In The Name – Seven Straight Destined To Be A Winner
There are very few fans in the rugby league world more passionate than those who follow Queensland, loving nothing more than stirring their New South Wales counterparts. This Saturday night, when Wolffdene trainer Jeffrey Cumming lines up for his shot at the $25,000 to the winner Summer Cup at Wentworth Park, his parochial allegiances even spill over into the name of his greyhound.
“Bob Giltenan, who owned the dam (Nicely Done), is a good mate of mine. With him being a New South Wales supporter that's how we named the dog Seven Straight, after the Queensland State Of Origin team, it was just to annoy him more than anything.”
But Cumming's light hearted jibes are not set to stop anytime soon, at least not while the cane toads keep on winning.
“Don't worry, we have Eight Straight, Nine Straight and Ten Straight all lined up and ready to go.”
This week, Cumming's main opposition will be coming from another state, despite the event being held in Sydney.
“He would certainly have to have some luck on his side to match the Victorians.”
The lightly raced son of Cosmic Rumble and Nicely Done has won nine of his twenty eight starts and has come a long way in just five starts over the longer trip, finding himself in a Group Three final.
“He's only had the five seven hundred metre starts so I'm keeping the fingers crossed that there is a bit of improvement in him.”
In a strange little synergy, Seven Straight will exit box seven in the final on Saturday night.
“I'm very happy with the box; he likes to use a bit of the track, so that's where he wants to be.”
Seven Straight may also have a little more to offer this week. Cumming revealed that he was definitely in need of the run in last weekend's heat.
“Last week was his first seven hundred for over a month so I was happy with it, and I think he should have some improvement in him. He had a bit of a virus after his last start in Melbourne so I had to back off him for a month. He'd had a couple of six hundred trials and that's it going into last week, so hopefully he'll have a little bit more in the tank this week.”
You just never know, with a bit of Maroon's style luck, at around a quarter past nine on Saturday night, the Queenslanders could be taking yet another trophy home from New South Wales.