Horror Draw Brings Johnny Back To Classic Pack

HE'S one of the hottest dogs in the land and on Saturday night Jungle Johnny will need to live right up to his reputation in a semi-final of the $125,000 Ladbrokes Country Classic (605m) at Dubbo.

The 605m middle distance series has drawn together four outstanding qualifiers with runners blessed with a mix of speed and stamina that progressed at different tracks around NSW.

Jungle Johnny's reputation has grown markedly since joining the team of trainer Mark Gatt and his assistant, brother Daniel, late last year.

Since the change of kennels, Jungle Johnny has won seven of his eight starts with slashing wins in near record times at Wentworth Park (29.16 – track record 29.04), Dapto (33.96 – TR 33.92) and at The Gardens (34.00 – TR 33.88).

FIELDS AND FORM DUBBO SATURDAY NIGHT

"He's a special talent there's no doubt about that," Daniel Gatt said.

"He's got as much ability as any dog we've had, and we couldn't have asked for anything more from him at this stage of his career."

Gatt made the 10-hour round trip from his Thirlmere base to trial Jungle Johnny at Dubbo prior to his last two starts at The Gardens. 

"We gave him a box-to-box from the 605 boxes and Stiffy (Shayne Stiff – President of the Dubbo Greyhound Racing Club) said ‘that's as good as you want them to go'," Gatt said.

"He travelled well too, as he always does but this time he was in the van for five hours to get there."

Jungle Johnny has drawn in the fourth and final semi-final on Saturday where he will need to overcome box seven if he's to progress to next week's rich final where the winner takes home $100,000.

"It's a terrible draw," Gatt said.

"Stiffy told me when we trialled that when you come up here for these races you want one, two or three but we've got seven so we have to hope he does everything right and has a bit of luck along the way.

"One thing's for certain, he's the type of dog that can overcome adversity as he showed in the early stages of his heat at The Gardens, ironically also from box seven."

Bookmakers have Jungle Johnny listed as the $2.05 favourite for his semi-final ahead of the well supported Paw Vortex (box 2) which has firmed from $4 into $3.40.

Jungle Johnny is also the $5 favourite to take out the series in the all-in market.