Stuart Gives Campini Outside Chance
20 March, 2019
Greyhound
Progressive chaser Campini’s impressive Perth Cup heat win has given trainer Paul Stuart some much needed confidence going into this Saturday night’s final at Cannington.
Campini, a winner at nine of his 14 starts, has rapidly progressed through the grades since his debut last September and announced himself as a key player in this week’s feature event.
The son of Kc And All got a terrific start from box five in last week’s heat and was able to settle just behind the leader Petria Monelli.
Campini then stormed away from his rivals over the closing stages to record a five length win in a time of 29.62.
Only Orson Allen (29.32) ran a quicker time on the night.
Despite getting confidence from the heat victory, Stuart remains circumspect about Campini’s chances in the final after drawing box six.
“It doesn’t suit him at all,” Stuart told TABradio.
“He’s had three starts from the draw for a duck egg.
“He’s had the wide draws where he hasn’t done much, but they were early in his career.”
In his career to date, Campini has made a habit of trying to quickly work his way to the running rail, which has led to him finding trouble from box six.
Stuart said he hoped Campini would be better for the three experiences he’s had from box six ahead of this Saturday night.
“He hasn’t had a whole lot of starts, but he’s always improving,” he said.
“We hope he’s learnt a bit of race craft and hopefully he won’t be too silly on Saturday night and he can work his way across.
“He can’t afford to make one single mistake on Saturday night.”
The five runners in single figure odds for Saturday’s Perth Cup have drawn boxes four to eight, with Orson Allen, the $2.05 TABtouch favourite, in box seven.
Stuart said he rated Orson Allen the best chaser in the field and was clearly the one to beat.
“I think he’s the best dog in the country, he came out and showed why last week,” he said.
“He’s drawn outside Campini and has West On Augie on his outside who’s not going to pressure him early.
“He’s got every opportunity to produce his best again.”
Stuart also has Eighty Eight engaged in the Perth Cup final, who qualified as one of the two fastest second placegetters in last week’s heats.
Eighty Eight is ranked a $61 outsider with TABtouch, but Stuart said he expected a bold showing from the son of Fernando Bale.
“He’s a genuine dog,” he said.
“He actually does better against better dogs.
“He’s not drawn too badly in three.
“He’s probably not good enough to win, but I’d be more than happy if he could sneak a place.”
The Perth Cup gets underway at 8.57 on Saturday night, while the Galaxy final jumps an hour earlier at 7.57.
Tim Walker