Postman Pat stamps his authority on Group 1 heats night

By Pat McLeod

Shooting star, Postman Pat, again lit up the greyhound racing world, surging into the Final of the $1 million Group 1 Brisbane Cup with a blistering heat win at Albion Park on Thursday night.

Master Queensland trainer Tony Brett, who is looking after the flying machine during his stint away from Jason Thomson’s Victorian kennels, had run out of superlatives after the four-and-a-quarter-length win in the fastest heat time (29.53 seconds).

“There's not a lot to say, he just keeps producing it,” Brett said.

“The more that he goes around here you just think that he is getting more accustomed to what he has to do.

“I am rapt.”

Postman Pat’s emphatic win was the highlight of a night of incredible greyhound racing - seven heats of the Group 1 Brisbane Cup over 520 metres and five heats of the Group 1 Queensland Cup over 710 metres.

Finals night, Friday July 7 at Albion Park, is set to be the predicted incredible climax of Queensland’s richest and best-ever greyhound carnival.

There were plenty of highs, and lows, on heats night.

• The disappointment of the night for the locals came in the third sprint heat when track record holder Jay Is Jay struck trouble on the first corner while vying for the lead, was shuffled back to second-last and was unable to recover from there.

• The victorious Victorian Britton clan continue to have a sensational 2023 Queensland Winter Greyhound Racing Carnival. Tim Britton has three starters in the distance Final – Plan Nice, Wheel And Go and Dirt Farmer, as well as reserve Fast Milkman. His uncle Jeff Britton has progressed mighty veteran Mepunga Warrior (101 starts) to the sprint Final.

• Ray Burman’s Blue Hornet also gained a distance Finals berth, after running second to Wheel And Go;  

• The cupboard was also looking bare for the locals in the sprint version before Bear’s Bullet (trained by Travis Elson) and then Magistrate (Greg Stella) took out the final two heats.

It was an action-packed night, but Postman Pat still claims the spotlight. The brilliant New Zealander, now based in Australia, updated his curriculum vitae to 17 wins (three second placings) from just 21 starts.

His first Group race will be next Friday’s $650,000-to-the-winner Brisbane Cup, but Brett isn’t looking any further then the preparation.

“I never get confident going into Finals,” Brett said.

“You see the class of the dogs going around, there is millimetres in this.

“We will get him as good as we can and then just have a crack.”

Brett only had to look back at the opening sprint heat to see the rush of talent.

Victorian Amron Boy (Brooke Ennis), showed he is in the right frame of mind for a third Group 1 crown, dominating a heat with a four-and-a-quarter-length win in a very slick 29.55 seconds. 

“We were lucky with the box draw (box two), but it was good to see him lead, find the fence and run what he can run,” Ennis said. 

“I definitely believe he is in the right frame of mind for another Group 1 win. He is a dog that races so well with confidence and his ego is pretty high at the moment so we will continue to keep him happy.”

The disappointment of Jay Is Jay’s exit from the sprint calculations mounted with each of the other interstate victories - Victoria’s Mepunga Warrior, WA’s Crumble Monelli (David Hobby) and Elite Machine (Jamie Marsh).

Then in the second last heat Bear’s Bullet held on over a fast-finishing Victa Damian to gain a Finals berth for Queensland.

"I am stoked,” Bear’s Bullet's trainer Travis Elson said. 

“I was a little bit down when the box draw came out and Hello Mike had drawn the eight. 

“Six weeks ago I wasn't even thinking about Bear’s Bullet for this race. It was all Hello Mike (who won the Group 1 Gold Bullion at Albion Park in February).

“But, she did well in the preludes and so I decided to go for this race.

“With her in front I was pretty confident that we could hang on and pinch this one. It was really nice.

Elson opted not to race last week to keep both dogs fresh.

"In these races you have to get out in front. You don't get a second chance," Elson detailed. 

“Bear’s Bullet is one of those dogs that when you put her in the boxes you know she's going to be in the top two every time in the first section.

“She is a faultless beginner from any box. If she can jump to the front and be trouble-free, you never know what is going to happen in a big race.

“She is in there and I'm stoked with that.”

The night then finished on an even bigger ‘local’ high with Magistrate taking the final sprint heat.

“There are better dogs than him in the race, obviously, but he did everything right off a good draw (box two),” trainer Greg Stella said. 

“I was a bit surprised (by the run). He came out as good as he could, but then the red held him through the catching pen. But, then he got around him, and then I thought ‘wow here we go.’.

“As far as the Final goes, to be quite honest I am just quite happy to be in the race. You run it for luck.

“Two months ago I didn't think the dog would even be in the heats. So, it is great to be in the race. If we run a place I would be over the moon.”

Emerging staying star Palawa King (Jack Smith) set the tone for the night with a classic back-to-front surge in the opening race of the card, the first of the distance heats.

In typical fashion the youngster from Forbes in Central Western NSW jumped from the boxes last, then gradually moved through the field before quickly going through the gears to launch into the straight the final time five lengths in front.

He extended that lead to seven-and-a-half lengths downing Tim Britton’s Milkman and Emerald Eyes (Pamela Field) in 41.83 seconds, the fastest of the heat times.

“He is just learning all the time and he is not that old for a stayer, but just getting better,” Smith said. 

“He is competitive with whatever he has gone around with. Win, lose or draw he will run a race.

“It makes that long drive (11 hours) just that little bit better.”