Tearful triumph for Plum Tuckered in NQ Cup heats

By Pat McLeod

Experienced North Queensland trainer Danny Preh admitted to ‘a couple of tears’ as Plum Tuckered sizzled through to the North Queensland Cup Final in near record time at Townsville on Tuesday night.

“It was awesome. I am really stoked,” Preh said.

Preh's little chaser saluted in the first of four heats in 28.36 seconds just outside Zabdon Ferrari’s track record mark of 28.33 seconds. 

“I did have a couple of tears in my eyes because I was so happy to see her do well with all the work that we have put in," Preh said. 

“She just tries her little heart out. I am so over the moon that she was able to do that and show that she can really hit it up with the big boys.

“That run didn't surprise me. She has it. You know, she really has it.”

Plum Tuckered’s seven-length win over Mark Partland’s Stripey Two, with My Mate Neo (trained by Greta Thomson) third, in a hot time would appear to have her in the box seat for her first feature crown next week.

However, Preh is far from making space in the trophy cabinet.

“I would have to say that she's one of the fastest dogs I've ever trained,” he explains.

“But, she doesn’t always start well and is a magnet for trouble.

“Just a few starts ago she came out three lengths behind and just got beaten.

“She has found trouble everywhere. I persevered and persevered and just felt really bad for the owners.

“It all comes down to the start. I sit there hoping that she will start well.”   

The Fernando Bale and Crazy Bonnie chaser had her first 23 starts in South East Queensland before being sent north to Preh, just in time for a Townsville Cup campaign in August.

“I have another of the owners’ dogs, Trixie Rigatoni, and it was more a case of a change of scenery,” he says.

“We gave her some short trials to build her up for the Townsville Cup (where she placed second in her heat and sixth in the Cup Final to More Peaches).

“She is fast and we had expectations that she could break a track record up here.

“She has got close to the 380 metre record and now the 498 metre record.”

Preh said Plum Tuckered’s chances in next week’s $16,000-to-the-winner NQ Cup Final all came down to the start.

She has drawn box four.

“She will be hard to beat if she can jump and do the same thing as she did tonight, but it is racing,” he said.

“She is a small dog and it doesn't take much to put her off balance, but she just keeps coming back.

“She will keep coming and keep coming and she will normally finish off the race hard.”

Preh will campaign two chasers in the Final, with Spitfire Rhodes also claiming a berth with a fighting second place to Carol Pickard’s Currie Young Boy in the fourth of Tuesday night’s heats.

The winning time in that heat was 28.84 seconds, with favourite Pretty Cindy (Brad Belford) placed third.

“Spitfire Rhodes is racing very confidently. He is not a super dog, but works so hard in his races,” Preh said.

“I believe he is going really well at the moment.”

The second heat of the NQ Cup was taken out by favourite Balts Orson (Jay Schafer) in 29.30 seconds with Bag The Cash (Mark Partland) second and Greta Thomson’s I’m A Neo third.

Mark Partland’s Three Tries led for the entire journey to take out the third heat in 28.85 seconds ahead of Young Rob (Robert Lound) with Who’s Billy (Ken Boody) third.