Stuart Trio Spring To Action
6 September, 2018
Greyhound
Trainer Paul Stuart is confident he has his three chasers spot on for their runs in the Spring Gift Heats (520m) at Cannington on Saturday night.
Astrozone, Cropduster and Mandjoogoordap are Stuart’s representatives in Saturday night’s two heats and both have their fair share of quality chasers.
Cropduster lines up in the first of the two heats where she has box six, while the heat is headlined by Perth Cup winner Trouper Monelli in box two.
The WA Oaks winner was unplaced in her first two runs in Free For All class, but has since gone on to win her most recent two starts which both came in Grade 4/5.
Stuart said this was Cropduster’s big test to see if she was capable of matching it with some of WA’s best chasers.
“She was unplaced in Free For All, then she got her confidence back in Grade four and five,” he said.
“The box won’t bother her, but this is her acid test.
“She has every chance to win, so we will see how she stacks up.”
Astrozone and Mandjoogoordap feature in the second heat of the night, while Quick Jagger and the David Hobby-trained trio of Petria Monelli, Frida Monelli and Waterloo Monelli also feature in the event.
Stuart said veteran chaser Astrozone, who hasn’t finished outside the top two in his last three outings, had found a new lease on life in recent starts.
“He had a little bit of a lull earlier this year and lost his confidence,” he said.
“The last six weeks he has been like a pup again and he has certainly got his confidence again.
“He’s going well enough to win…he’s got the form on the board.”
Astrozone will start from box four on Saturday night, while Mandjoogoordap has box one, the first time she will start from the red box.
Stuart said Mandjoogoordap lost her way after she fell in the Perth Cup Consolation in April, but felt she deserved her chance in the Spring Gift.
“She’s only had one or two starts in the last six to eight weeks,” he said.
“She lost her confidence around Cannington, so we took her away from Cannington to get her confidence back.”
Meanwhile, Stuart said he was impressed by the debut effort of speedy chaser Campini over 520m last night.
Campini won in a time of 29.77 seconds and by a margin of seven-and-a-quarter lengths to Hammy Time.
“He did what I expected him to do,” Stuart said.
“It was good to see him cop a bit of buffeting and still go on to win the race.
“From what I’ve seen, he’s a good chaser.
“One thing you want to see in a dog is that they rail and rail hard…he’s doing everything right.”
Tim Walker