Traralgon Twist In the Mr. Audacious Story

THE story of hugely gifted Beast Unleashed chaser Mr. Audacious is arguably more fascinating off the track than it is on.

But for now the only one entertaining the minds of co-trainers Rachael and Mark Busuttil is the one on the track, highlighted most recently by the freakish sprinter's track record breaking exploits in a heat of the Traralgon Cup last Friday night.

Returning to the track for the first time since last September – when scoring at Sandown Park in a flying 29.28 – Mr. Audacious recorded a slashing 24.43 for the 450 metre journey to race his way into the Group 2 Traralgon Cup decider.

The mind-blowing performance rounded out what's been a turbulent five months for the Busuttils and owner Kevin Wainwright, leaving no stone unturned in their bid to give their once-in-a-lifetime galloper the chance to shine once more on the track.

Here is the box draw for Thursday night's Group 2 #TraralgonCup Final ??

1️⃣ SALAD DODGER
2️⃣ VANCE BALE
3️⃣ MR. AUDACIOUS
4️⃣ REVOLUTION
5️⃣ MOBILE LEGEND
6️⃣ ZELLA BALE
7️⃣ I'M TALKING
8️⃣ RIVER ROUGH

Reserves
9️⃣ TITAN BLAZER
? DR. ANGELO

The winner will be … pic.twitter.com/zxlehdmKpC

— WatchDog Racing (@WatchDogRacing) January 20, 2023

"With what happened after the Sandown win we considered retiring him for a short time there," a candid Mark Busuttil told the Greyhound Recorder.

"After that win he had another seizure in the catching pen and the stewards imposed a three-month ban on him from racing as it was the second time.

"A week after Sandown we decided to trial him at Sale over the 500m to see if it was an issue he was only having when he gets up to the 500 and it happened again.

"On the way home from trialling we got a call from the stewards and the next day a lawful order had been imposed preventing him from trialling until he'd satisfactorily trialled after his three months were up. 

"Without going into it too much it's caused us quite a bit of stress as there's no avenue to appeal a lawful order through either VRT or VCAT, you have to go to the Supreme Court which is so costly, so we were left stranded really.

"What people need to understand is that with the episodes he has had he is good as gold 10 minutes after. There are absolutely no concerns with his welfare. 

"We scratched him from a $50,000 final early in his career because of a sore toenail. His welfare always comes first. Always will."    

While breaking a track record at any juncture is a herculean effort, the performance by Mr. Audacious – now a winner at 14 of his 17 starts – to do so last week takes it to a whole new level.

"It just confirmed he's a total freak," Busuttil beamed.

?? NEW TRACK RECORD ??

MR. AUDACIOUS has broken the Traralgon 450-metre track record in the second heat of the Group 2 #TraralgonCup.

MR. AUDACIOUS – victorious in 14 of his 17 starts – also holds the Shepparton 450-metre track record.#GreyhoundRacing pic.twitter.com/9PDjUWLyXS

— WatchDog Racing (@WatchDogRacing) January 20, 2023

"He'd had six trials since last September, that's it, six. For those first three months all he was doing was working up and down the runs at home going stir crazy.

"When he was out, myself and Kevin drove to Wagga to meet NSW vet John Newell. I reckon John looked at him for all of two minutes and said he believed the issue was that he has a soft trachea and under pressure, given how fast he is, not enough oxygen was circulating.

"John put us on to a few things to try and touch wood everything has been fine since. We can't say for sure though so his runs will be sparingly … pretty much from country cup to country cup.

"If it happens again he's out for 12 months so that would pretty much be it for him."

With the Traralgon and Shepparton track records under his belt, along with a Warragul St. Leger title, one can only imagine what Mr. Audacious is capable of producing with a decent block of racing under his belt.

"He almost broke the 350m track record in his return to racing trial at Traralgon last month … he hadn't been to a track in three months," Busuttil said.

"The day after the satisfactory trial the lawful order got lifted and that's when we started aiming him towards the Cup.

"We were a bit concerned a few weeks out that his trials were below his best but I have to thank Ken Bailey – he sacrificed a few dogs for him to go in a field trial against and he absolutely flew.

"That's what he wants now, competition. When he's got it he knows it's game day. I reckon that's got a lot to do with spending three months at home working up and down the runs alone.

"A week out from the Cup heats he went 24.73 which blew the cobwebs out. He's come out of the heat effort digging the ground up and will only be better for the run."

Mr. Audacious has drawn box three for Thursday night's star-studded Traralgon Cup and the truth is the Busutills are treating every run like it may be his last.

"You should enjoy it but it's been hard with all that's gone on," he added. "But that will all come out later. For now we're just letting the dog do the talking.

"He's just a very special animal."