Stuart Set For Sandi Success
22 February, 2018
Greyhound
In-form trainer Paul Stuart is set to unleash two of his star chasers in Saturday night’s Sandi’s Me Mum Memorial Final at Cannington.
Stuart’s Astrozone and Decimal were impressive in taking out the heats of the series at Cannington last weekend, but the pair will have their work cut out from box five and seven respectively this weekend.
Astrozone dropped back to the 520m last week, following two game performances at the 600m, and Stuart said he would need to produce a stronger performance this week if he is to take out the final.
“There’s a lot of speed in the race from either side,” he said.
“Max Profit is the leader, and there’s a few dogs underneath him that have a similar early pace to him, and he will want to get to the fence.
“He’s going to need a bit of luck.”
Decimal surprised Stuart more than Astrozone last week, where he stepped up from Grade Five company to open company.
Stuart said Decimal’s performance this week would give him a good guide to see if he was up to the open class greyhounds.
“He is just a class below these dogs, it is a step up in grade,” he said.
“I was really impressed with him last week.
“He backed up his run from the week before, and he had a good greyhound in Trouper Monelli on his hammer and he couldn’t get past him.
“He’s going to have to try and find the front to win, but his last two runs have probably been the best of his career.”
Friday night’s program at Mandurah is also shaping up to be an exciting one for Stuart, where he prepares the highly talented Dustier, a son of Miata.
Dustier is unbeaten from two starts in his career thus far, both of them coming over the 405m trip at Mandurah.
Stuart said it had been a battle to get Dustier to the track, and he was treating every start as a bonus.
“The only reason he has had two starts was because he had a busted front leg as a pup,” he said.
“I’m pretty sure it was a broken front leg.
“You only get a couple of runs out of him, and then he pulls up a bit sore.
“This time around we have had to take a lot of time in getting him to the track.”
Friday night presents a new challenge for Dustier to overcome, where he has box eight over the 405m trip.
Stuart said he expected another strong showing from Dustier on Friday night, and was excited about his prospects going forward.
“He’s got some genuine ability, and unlike Miata, he has some serious early speed,” he said.
“He’s a nice dog, but because the injuries he is probably going to be a Mandurah dog, because Cannington is probably going to be a bit tight for him.”
The Sandi’s Me Mum Memorial Final jumps at 8.27pm on Saturday.
Tim Walker