Halse Holds Sprint Fears
7 August, 2018
Greyhound
A cautious Chris Halse believes Max Profit stands in the way of a West On Augie victory in the Croc Media WA Sprint Championship (520m) at Cannington on Thursday.
West On Augie rebounded and pressed his claims for the final after leading throughout to hold out a gallant challenge from runner-up Dusty Mac in last week’s heat.
It was a confidence-boosting win for West On Aguie after he fell at The Meadows and then had little luck when finishing sixth to Bundles Galore last month.
Halse is confident West On Augie will figure prominently and be hard to beat in the final, but would dearly have loved to swap box draws with Max Profit.
West On Augie will jump from box five while the Corey White-trained Max Profit, second to Bundles Galore in the heat, starts from box three.
“Look if he had drawn the other way with Max Profit where he could find the front clearly you would be really confident,” Halse told Tabradio.
“He has been brought undone before by Max Profit pushing up underneath him so he would have to jump clear of that to be real confident.
“If he doesn’t jump he may set it up for some of the swoopers.”
Halse says he also holds fear if Perth’s winter weather hits Cannington and affects the track as it did for last week’s heats.
“You are apprehensive and you don’t want anything to go wrong when you know you are going to get 30mls of rain,” Halse said.
“When you watch the heats last week in the torrential rain you think it’s just a hard race for the dogs.
“The conditions can suit different types of dogs.”
Halse is chasing his second national sprint representation after Times Square ran in Adelaide in 2016.
Halse also holds hopes in the Croc Media WA Distance Championship (715m) with a two-pronged attack.
Quick Jagger steps from box two, the identical positon he drew in last week’s heat when third to Moment To Jive.
“It’s a tricky draw, but as long as he doesn’t get knocked over too much he can run a creditable race,” Halse said.
“He will be hard to beat if he goes straight to the front.”
Ramifications has drawn the outside of his kennel mate and Halse thinks he might struggle to make it back to back Distance Championships.
“He is going nicely without setting the world on fire,” Halse said.
“He enjoys racing, but is probably not up to this standard.”
Julio Santarelli