Retirees again in tears with Brimstone rollercoaster

By Pat McLeod

For a couple of retirees who are experiencing the ride of their lives with a talented litter of pups, Peter Mcblane and partner Angela Brown sure cry a lot.

The tears flowed again at the weekend when litter star Brimstone took out the $30,000-to-the-winner Ipswich Young Guns Final over 520 metres against a red-hot field.

“We are just a very emotional couple,” Brown said while recapping on Saturday night’s ‘amazing win’.

“I was in tears after the win, again.

“That feeling, that win, well that was the top of the tree for me. The best feeling.”

The pair, both trainers, who are based at Taigum, just north of Brisbane, have experienced those same tears and elation several times now with Brimstone’s rollercoaster career.

First there was a semi-final win in the prestigious Vince Curry Memorial Maiden at Ipswich in January.

But, then their Final appearance was cruelly ripped away when Brimstone was diagnosed with a fractured sesamoid bone.

Then there was the heart-in-the-mouth return to the track two-and-a-half months later on a Thursday night at Albion Park.

Brimstone won, ironically beating into second place Adam Mcintosh’s Elisheba, who had won the Vince Curry Final.

Then came Saturday night, with Brimstone on the third line of betting at $7 behind Ipswich track specialist and also winter carnival success story Magistrate (trained by Greg Stella) at $2.20 and Ipswich 520 metre record holder, Ray Burman’s Blue Hornet ($3).

Mcblane takes up the story.

“In some respects he (Brimstone) shouldn't have won that Young Guns race,” Mcblane said.

“He wasn't graded to win that race. He was a fifth grade dog racing against dogs like Magistrate, who has been winning so much, and also the track record holder, Blue Hornet. I knew he would run well, but the run was better than even I expected.

“But, I also knew that both Brimstone and his sister Icy Eyes (both dogs are with trainers Selena and Mick Zammit) have this thing in 520 metre races where they take off at a point down the back straight. For Brimstone at Ipswich that is at the start of the circle near the 600 metre boxes.

“On Saturday night at one stage he was four lengths behind (leader) Magistrate and (second-placed) Blue Hornet had him wide on the track. They were both one off the fence and he was three off the fence.

“Down the back straight I thought he would go really close. Once he started to take off at those 600 metre boxes I thought he would be able to catch them. And, he did. He stood up and proved just how good he is. He stood up and said: ‘I'm here’.”

The winning margin was a length in 30.47 seconds, with Blue Hornet running into second and Magistrate third.

Now, with just nine runs on the board for six wins and a third, and almost $52,000 in prize money, Peter and Angela, are excited about the dog’s future, but will leave the programming entirely to the Zammits.

“As far as the future goes I have no thought pattern about his future,” Mcblane said.

“Angela and I are the owners. That is why we gave it the dog to Mick and Selena. When I gave them the dog I said to Mick that I would not interfere. They have a top class establishment and I knew that when the time came to place a couple of dogs they were the obvious choice.

“Mick had previously shown interest in another of the litter, Mahuika. But, I had told him then that there were actually others in the litter who were faster than her. And, as it turns out, now he has both Brimstone and Icy Eyes.”

Although Mcblane had nurtured Brimstone through the early injury setback and had trained him for his winning return to the track, he and Brown had no hesitation in passing both dogs onto the Zammits.

“I knew that they could improve them four to five tenths on what I can do with them,” Mcblane explains.

“I don't have the 30 or more years of training dogs to put the polish on them like Mick has. I know that Brimstone is a good dog and I know that he ran 29.81 seconds for a novice when I was looking after him.

“Angela and I knew that he could run, but I knew that he would also run a lot better with a better trainer.”

In Saturday night’s other feature races at Ipswich, Gary Mackay’s Select Moment won the Ipswich Grand Prix Final over 732 metres with Hidden Agenda (Tony Short) second and Courageous Carol (Greg Deering) third.

While in the Past Members Final over 288 metres, Ringbark Road (Pauline Byers) was victorious, with Spring Rock (Pauline Byers) second and Black Monaro (John Catton) third.