Trainer unsure which 'Paulie' version will turn up for Wildcard

By Pat McLeod

North Queensland trainer Tony Parker says because of a troublesome wrist injury and Paulie Walnuts’ ‘quirky’ nature he has no idea how his dog will perform in Tuesday night’s Townsville Wildcard heats.

The previously well-performed Fernando Bale -  Flyrite chaser has had a chequered lead-in to this year’s Townsville Cup preliminaries.

It is so different from last year when Paulie Walnuts was in red-hot form.

Back then, he won a heat of the Wildcard before being beaten by three-quarters of length in the Final by eventual Townsville Cup winner Redemption Day (trained by Harold Hovi).

Then he was beaten by half a head in the Townsville Cup heats.

However, since he has had limited opportunities through injuries and an unsuccessful attempt at a Brisbane campaign.

But, just a couple of weeks ago Parker thought he had his ‘real’ speedster back.

“I put him in a trial over the 498 metres (at the Townsville track) and he went 28.6 seconds,” Parker said.

“I was surprised. I was really happy with that and thought, ‘I have the dog back’.”

But, a week later in just his second race start since November last year, Paulie Walnuts ran a disappointing sixth behind another Wildcard contender, Jay Schafer’s Balts Orson.

“He (Paulie Walnuts) went pretty ordinary in that race last week,” Parker said. 

“He got into trouble on a couple of occasions. He is the sort of dog that likes to be left on his own in running.

“He copped a couple of checks and that was the end of him. He did run on fairly. I will just see what happens on Tuesday, but he will need to go a lot better than he did last week.

“But, it is what it is. He has speed, but he is also a funny dog. Sometimes if he gets off the lure he won't run home as strongly as other dogs do. There is no doubting the ability of the dog. Everyone knows how good he is. But, he just needs things to go his way.

"If he is sitting second or third and not too far from the bunny, then he is as good as anything.”

Paulie Walnuts will come out of box eight and because of the race pattern he has developed, Parker is happy with that.

“That is probably the box that I would have preferred him to come out of,” he said.

“If he decides to jump and go and stay out of trouble, which is entirely up to him, he can stay out wide.

“Early in his career he loved being out wide and would just go around dogs, but then he started to look for the rail.

“He is not a lid pinger. Never has been. But, he musters very well. That first 10 to 20 metres, if nothing touches him, he goes well. But, you can't necessarily put in an order for that can you. That is dog racing.”

Parker says there are plenty of genuine chances across the two heats.

“Balts Orson is a very good dog. Jay has got him going very well again,” he said.

“If he jumps like he did last week he could do anything. Golden Rule (Laurie Wode) is as good as any in town, just lacks some early speed. But, if you are out in front and he sits in second or third, you won't be happy. You don't want him chasing you.

“(In the second heat) Pretty Cindy is the dog I would like to have because she always leads.

“She will always run around 28.7 and with the corner start, nine times out of 10 there is drama going through that catching pen. When she is out in front she is the toughest to beat. And, of course there is Redemption Day. I would like to have a dog that chases as hard as him.”

In fact Redemption Day, with a best time over the Townsville 498 metres of 28.36 seconds, is the only dog with a quicker time than Paulie Walnuts’ best (28.46 seconds).

That is something that isn’t lost on Parker.

“Everyone knows how fast my dog is,” he said.

“He is hit and miss. On his day I guess he can win. I just hope I can get him to show up. I have done everything that I can do. He is as keen as mustard. It really is an unknown quantity until the race is run.”

The winner of next week’s $24,000 Wildcard Final will gain automatic entry into the Townsville Cup Final.

The Group 3 Townsville Cup over 498 metres (heats August 18; Final August 25) carries record prize money of $112,500 with winning connections collecting $75,000.

That's almost double last year's figure of $57,500 (winner $40,000).