Monday, September 18, 2017
Horsham trainer Jeff Guy looks to hold a strong hand in this Sunday’s Iron Dog final (512 m) after Frac Geek ended the two qualifying rounds with maximum points while Paraphernalia snuck into the final with an outstanding win in heat four over 400 metres on Sunday.
Paraphernalia, a former Tara Raceway 600 metre track record holder and sub-30 second 512 metre winner, needed a first or second finish on Sunday to ensure a place in the final after running only fourth in last week’s middle-distance round.
At what was his first run over the distance at Tara Raceway, the fawn son of Big Daddy Cool x Scrappy Coco led all the way from box four to clock 22.83 seconds – less than a length outside Cryer’s Ricky’s record of 22.78 seconds.
Frac Geek, another sub-30 second 512 metre winner, impressed with an all the way win in 23.25 seconds while Lee Bartholomew’s Azumi Swift, who boasts an impressive 29.84 seconds over the 512 metre journey, turned in a top effort when running 23.12 seconds and bringing up her ninth win.
Portland trainer Nicole Stanley, successful in last year’s Iron Dog with Old Jock, will be represented in Sunday’s final by Hit The Runway who ran Paraphernalia to 1½ lengths when clocking a quick 22.92 seconds himself to finish second in Sunday’s final Iron Dog heat.
Iron Dog top point scorers: Frac Geek (Jeff Guy) 16; Cryer’s Plugger (Tom Cryer), Jen Shen (Tony Harding) 15; Azumi Swift (Lee Bartholomew), Bekim Lucy’s (Tracie Price), Hit The Runway (Nicole Stanley) 14; Lektra Destiny (Barry Shepheard), Paraphernalia (Jeff Guy) 13.