Backcreek Benny To Cause A Storm In Clarence
FEW can fault the form of Backcreek Benny but Mick and Selena Zammit are still wary of his chances in The Clarence final (660m) at Grafton next Sunday.
FEW, if any, can fault the form of Backcreek Benny in the past two months but Mick and Selena Zammit, who train the dog, are still wary of his chances in The Clarence Final (660m) at Grafton next Sunday.
Backcreek Benny, a Sennachie-Kooringa Maizie litter brother to Grafton and Ipswich record holder Barefoot Zulu, was impressive in winning his heat of The Clarence in 38.22 at Grafton on Sunday night, scoring by four lengths over Prim And Precise.
It was the dog's fifth straight win and came just three days after he had won in 34.70 over 600m at Albion Park.
But, looming large against him is Autumn Storm (Aston Rupee-Look Fancy Nancy) which ran 37.96 to win her heat of The Clarence by two lengths over Jeremiah Fire.
Autumn Storm, from the Tom Tzouvelis kennel, was coming off a 37.83 track record run at Grafton on February 9.
"Autumn Storm has to be the hot favourite and the one to beat in the final," said Mick Zammit.
"She's a Group 1 sprint winner, holds the track record, and she will be in front.
"Our dog will flop out as usual and have to try to run them down. He might not be able to do that with Autumn Storm in front."
Backcreek Benny has been second in the Ipswich Derby and a finalist in the G2 Queensland Derby for the Zammit kennel since heading north on the recommendation of his original trainer Robbie Andrews on the Northern Rivers.
"It is because he was always going to be much better suited to middle distance racing that we got the dog in the first place," he added.
"It was a no brainer that he needed to go further. But, stepping up in distance has been great for him.
"And, he's yet another great son of Sennachie we've had in the kennel."
The obvious standouts for the Zammits by Sennachie include superstar littermates Jay Is Jay, All Natural and Cluster.
Autumn Storm, winner of 15 races and $268,000, continues to put together an impressive career.
She is also the winner of the Silver Dollars, was third in the Publicans Cup, and a finalist in the G1 Golden Sands, G2 Qld Flame, G3 Ipswich young Guns and G3 Ipswich Futurity.
The Clarence (in box draw order): 1 Stowaway, 2 Autumn Storm, 3 Doing Fine, 4 Away Days, 5 Backcreek Benny, 6 Prim And Precise, 7 One More Beer, 8 Jeremiah Fire. Res: 9 Tex's Ear, 10 Goldmine Fire.
Latest News Articles
Greyhound Search
Trainer Search
Top Bookmakers