Rugby league mates on the cusp of glory in Million Dollar Chase final
A game of golf for a bunch of rugby league mates from Cambridge Park in the Penrith competition was the catalyst for them to buy a dog which lines up in the Million Dollar Chase Final at Wentworth Park.
It’s fair to say they knew what they were doing, because Gatlin was the prized purchase, headed up by front-rower Beau Ferguson.
The two-year-old – with $116,120 in prizemoney from 28 starts (10 wins) – is a $3.80 winning chance with Ladbrokes on Saturday night.
He simply cannot be ignored after his brilliant time of 29.28 seconds which saw him win the first semi-final last Friday night.
Gatlin – also this year’s Group 1 Vic Peters Classic Final winner – finished three lengths outside the track record.
And there would be bar managers around the historic Glebe venue licking their lips at the prospect of the emerging sprinter winning because of the big celebrations which would follow.
If their Vic Peters celebrations were anything to go by, it could be a big week of partying for the ownership group if Gatlin gets up.
“They (the owners) are just all my mates from footy. We’ve played together for 20 years,” Ferguson told Sky Racing.
“And a couple of boys from work. We’re all mates. We were playing golf one day and there were a couple of pups for sale.
“I asked them ‘do you want to go in on them?’ They all said yes, and now we’re here.
“After the Vic Peters it was massive. So I dare say if he wins $1 million, it could be a week-long celebration.
“But we’ll see how we go.”
Don’t be fooled by Ferguson’s knockabout nature and love of a good time with his footy mates.
He knows his stuff when it comes to greyhound racing, and his purchase of Gatlin was certainly no fluke.
“We know the guy who bred him and I watched the mother (Von Magic) during her racing career,” he said.
“She was a fast short-courser, and he just said ‘do you want a couple of pups?’
“I went and had a look at them when they were babies. I picked two brindle ones.
“They were beautiful pups, and that’s just how it’s ended up.
“They’re both real good dogs.”
As a prop in the Penrith A-grade competition, Ferguson rolls up his sleeves and has a go every week.
That was how Gatlin won last Friday night, and that is all he is expecting in the MDC Final on Saturday night.
“It (the time of 29.28 seconds in the semi-final) was a surprise at first. We know the dog can gallop – he is very fast,” Ferguson said.
“He’s a very fast animal. But 29.28, I didn’t think he’d ever run that.
“But he had a go all the way last week, and hopefully he can do it all again on Saturday.”
And if Gatlin does not salute for trainer Minnie Finn, he hopes one of her two other runs can.
Finn, who is Ferguson’s aunty, also has Zipping Kyrgios and Zipping Alabama starting in the MDC Final on Saturday night.
Finn has such a soft spot for Zipping Kyrgios, she proudly called him “my boy” after he saluted in a time of 29.49 seconds in the sixth semi-final last Friday night.
It was Finn who told Australian Racing Greyhound that Gatlin was “not a really strong 500m dog” after his Vic Peters Classic victory in July, but he’s showed continual improvement since then.
“He’s got a funny mind, but when I saw him going he was putting in,” she said after his stunning MDC semi-final victory.
“I’m lost for words.
“He’s finally done what I know he can do. I never, ever thought he’d run that time, but he kept going the whole way.”