Myrniong All Set For Straight Track Showdown

ANTHONY Azzopardi has a word of warning for rival trainers hoping on Sunday to win their way to the rich National Straight Track Championship.

PREMIER trainer Anthony Azzopardi has a word of warning for rival trainers hoping to win their way through to the rich National Straight Track Championship this Sunday.

The Victorian final will be run this Sunday at Healesville and Azzopardi has Myrniong And All (KC And All-Eastern Culture) coming out of the five box, striving to chase the big money in the rich national final the following week.

“The five is not a great draw because he does like to get to the fence,” said Anthony.

“But, even the likes of (likely final favourite) Peter Galo will not want to give our bloke a few clear strides early.

“He already holds three or four first section records around provincial Victoria.

“If they give him a few strides to move early, they will know they have a race on their hands.”

Azzopardi is chasing the Straight Track Championship with a relatively inexperienced straight tracker.

“I trialled him there, gave him a short race the week before the heats and then he won his heat,” he said.

Click here to check out Sunday's Victorian Straight Track Championship field

“If he can get through to the final he will be going into it with four runs up Healesville and will be spot on.”

Azzopardi knows only too well how difficult it will be to beat Peter Galo, the fastest heat winner last Sunday, and likely to be hot favourite for the state and national finals.

He has won 15 races at Healesville and was also the winner of the Group 2 Shepparton Cup.

Azzopardi loaned out broodbitch Eastern Culture on a pup deal.

“We got to pick our pup via a video of them at an early age running about a paddock,” he said.

“There was 10 in the litter and all of them were brindle. I watched the video and said ‘that one'.

“It turned out to be Myrniong And All and he's the best of the litter.”

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AS veteran South Australian dog man Ray Murray watched the rain come down over Murray Bridge, he was concerned his chances of making the National Straight Track Championships might have been washed away.

“The camber on the Murray Bridge straight runs away a bit on the outside and with rain it makes the track from the outside boxes a bit soft,” said Ray.

Murray's star galloper Panhandle Slim was drawn in the seven.

He need not have worried.

“He did a great job,” Murray said of the dog's victory by three-quarters of a length over Fantastic Axel and Hot Chevy, the placegetters also booking a spot in the National Grand Final at Healesville on August 18.

“It was interesting because the first three placegetters came from boxes seven, six and eight,” said Murray.

Panhandle Slim (Kalden Komoto-Sometimes Speedy) took his record to 28 starts for 18 wins.

“We will head over to Healesville for the big final the day before,” said Ray.

“It takes about 10 hours to get there and we will probably camp in the van.

“The dog is a fantastic traveler and he will not need to see Healesville because he has been up there plenty of times when trained by Seona Thompson late last year.

“Nothing bothers this dog.”

Adam Dobbin

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