Valhalla lured south after another Capalaba feature triumph

By Pat McLeod

An emotional lure is pulling top South East Queensland trainer Tom Tzouvelis to a Traralgon Cup campaign for his lightning-fast Valhalla.

The Park Ridge mentor revealed as much after his Orson Allen and Femme Folle sprinter claimed another Capalaba crown, the $18,500 Anniversary Cup Final, at Capalaba on Sunday.

Following Valhalla’s 13^th win (and four seconds) from 18 starts at the boutique straight track, Tzouvelis was weighing up three options – the Golden Ticket at Albion Park (Final on January 18), the Traralgon Cup (Final on January 26), the Richmond Straight Cup (Final on February 3).

“I think that big sweeping back straight and corner at Traralgon is ideal for a high-speed dog like him and he would eat it up,” Tzouvelis said.

“Also, Traralgon holds a special place for us. I spent a lot of time there as a kid when my Dad used to race there almost every Thursday.

“That’s when they used to race on a Thursday night and we were based in Melbourne. From what I've seen of Traralgon, it is a track where a dog can come from behind and that suits our bloke, whose box manners are not always perfect. It is 450 metres, which is a plus for Valhalla.

“I would need to go down and give him a good look at the track before the heats on January 19.”

If Traralgon is the next target, Tzouvelis would also include a Healesville appointment for Valhalla, after the dog finished behind Unleash Collinda in two races there earlier this year – the Straight Track Nationals and a heat of the Healesville Cup.

“I would also like to give him another look at Healesville,” Tzouvelis said.

“During a Traralgon Cup campaign I would aim to get him a start at that straight track to hopefully get him a win there.

“So, when we do go back for the 2024 Healesville Cup, which I am hoping to do, we would be a little bit more fine-tuned.”

Tzouvelis said Valhalla was now reaching his prime and the timing could not be better.

“He's getting to a good age for racing now, just over two-and-a-half years old and he's really hitting his straps,” Tzouvelis said.

“And, the timing has been perfect as far as the increases in prize money for straight track racing goes.

“If prize money wasn't how it is at Capalaba he would have been back to the circle ages ago. I can't recall ever having a dog that I've raced almost exclusively on the straight for this amount of time.

“The last time he was on the circle was July 15 (at Ipswich). Normally our dogs use Capalaba as a trial, as we did with Saanvi today (who won race six, which was a heat of the Tommy Hoyland Memorial on Sunday).

“This was Valhalla’s fifth feature Final at Capalaba and he has won over $140,000 there.”

Valhalla wasn’t the quickest out of the boxes on Sunday, but mustered quickly and found a safe passage to power to the line in 19.39 seconds. 

Second was Darren Russell’s Top Gun, who came into box two for the scratched Cyrus.

Third was Bye Bye Raider (trained by Jamie Mchugh).

Tzouvelis said there were also other options in Valhalla’s immediate future, including the Bulli Gold Cup (Final on February 18) and also a Hobart campaign.

“This was his second start back from a slight hip injury, so we will just look after him,” Tzouvelis said.

“If at any stage he isn't pulling up well, we will give him his spell. The beauty is, he has opened up so many options. We don't have to rush anything.”