Peter Mosman victory gives Pringle a special birthday present
CLERGATE owner/breeder David Pringle received one of the best birthday presents of his life when his talented greyhound, Buck Forty, took out the Group 1 Peter Mosman Classic (520m) at Wentworth Park on Saturday night.
Trained in Victoria by Jason Thompson, Buck Forty was only fair into stride from box two but was able rail through into second spot behind kennel mate Invictus Rapid (box four) before unleashing a powerful finishing burst, claiming the lead in the home straight to score by half a length in 29.83.
Pringle, who bred, reared and educated the son of Buck Fever and Fancy Jaffa, described the elation he felt when he realised his star chaser had landed the $75,000 winner's purse.
“Coming through the pen and into the back I started to get excited, but I didn't know how strong Jason's other dog (Invictus Rapid) was,” Pringle told Australian Racing Greyhound.
“He (Buck Forty) showed what a good chaser he is and he was able to go back to the inside, but I had no idea whether he had won because I couldn't see properly from where I was standing.
“It was fantastic when I saw the two come on the board…we bred him ourselves with our own stud dog and to have reared him and done it all with him, it's a great feeling.
“It was probably one of the best birthday presents I could get, it will be very hard to beat.”
Buck Forty has now won eight of his 21 starts, with Saturday's victory adding to his triumph in the 2016 Group 2 Launching Pad and taking his career earnings to $263,388.
Pringle was quick to praise the work of Thompson who has trained the dog for the majority of his career, with Pringle and his wife Danielle making the decision to send the dog to Victoria after he showed above average ability as a youngster.
“When we had him up here he trialled 29.60 at Dubbo and they don't go much better than that,” Pringle said.
“We classed him as a 29.40-29.50 dog at Wentworth Park so we made the decision to send him down to Jason because as far as trainers go he is second to none.
“We had a lot of faith in his ability so it is very rewarding to see him come out and do what he has done.”
The win was also particularly special with Buck Forty being by Buck Fever who Pringle bred and trained to win six of his 19 starts.
With limited litters to race, Buck Fever has already produced two group 1 winners, with his daughter, Bourbski Fever, winning last year's Group 1 Bold Trease under the care of Andrea Dailly.
“We wouldn't have bred from him (Buck Fever) if he was no good – we knew what he could do.
“We've had plenty of quick dogs but there was something special about this fella so it is nice to see him showing people for himself.”