Queensland pride on the line for Jay Is Jay in The Phoenix

By Andrew Smith

Selena Zammit has a message for the rest of The Phoenix field: “Don’t underestimate us - we’re coming.”

The trainer of Jay Is Jay is determined to prove a point when the champion greyhound jumps in Saturday night’s $1.65 million The Phoenix at The Meadows.

The dog booked his place via Racing Queensland’s slot in the world’s richest greyhound race with a dominant victory in The Flame at Albion Park on November 30.

It wasn’t the original route to The Phoenix that Selena and husband Mick had planned for Jay Is Jay, following a disappointing showing in the Melbourne Cup heats late last month.

But, as Selena explained, life has a funny way of working out.

“It was our Plan B - we’d gone to Melbourne to hopefully be in the Melbourne Cup, and we didn’t make it, so the dog flew home the next day and we started his preparation for The Flame,” Selena said.

“Last year, we ran second in The Flame so we’ve gone one better this year and it’s just an absolute dream come true to be representing Racing Queensland.

“I don’t know how to describe it in words but we’re just so over the moon that we’ve come home, we’re able to win the race and now we’re going back to show Melbourne who thinks Jay Is Jay is ‘oh just that Queensland dog, he’s nothing special.’

“But we’d like to let them know that he is.”

The dog from a Sennachie and Kealoah litter was the first Queensland greyhound to win the Million Dollar Chase in October at Wentworth Park, and ran second in the Group 1 Topgun last month.

Despite that success, Selena said there had been little to no interest from slot holders for the $1 million-to-the-winner race at the Meadows.

Now the Willow Vale-based trainer wants to prove those who doubted her prized dog wrong.

“No-one approached us, no nibbles for a spot in The Phoenix and we thought oh well, doesn’t matter we weren’t thinking about the Phoenix to start off with,” Selena said.

“It’s great to be in the race but it means more the fact that we’re from Queensland.

“Victoria hasn’t given us a hope in us going down there, we’re the underdogs - we’re from Queensland so we just want to put Queensland on the map with this dog.

“It’d just be a fairytale for us if we were to win another million dollar race this year and people then might stand up and say ‘oh that Queensland dog, maybe he is a bit of alright.’

“It means a lot for the dog, it means a lot to us as Queenslanders because we’re underrated and I want to let everyone know that don’t underestimate us, we’re coming.”

It’s fair there has even been some skepticism emanating from within the Zammit camp itself.

Selena’s mother Lillian Jones resides in the granny flat on the Willow Vale property, where Jay Is Jay’s trophies and memorabilia adorns the interior.

She’s also the owner of the dog they call “Mick” around the property, and is only now coming around to his superstar status – despite his breaking of the Albion Park track record with 29.35 seconds in March.

“I’m just totally overwhelmed with what the dog has done - I hear the race callers using names like Super Dog, King of Albion Park, he’s a champion and all this and I thought no - he’s our Mick, he’s our dog,” Lillian said.

“But after watching The Flame I said to Selena ‘do you know for the first time, I am believing we have a good dog’ and she just laughed at me and said ‘oh Mum.’

“I said ‘yeah well, he annihilated them on the night’ and that made me feel that he was the good dog that they say he is.”

Jay Is Jay is named in honour of Selena’s father and Lillian’s husband, the late Jeff Jones, who also trained the dam Kealoah.

Following his passing, Lillian took over the bitch’s handling and knew she wanted to pay tribute to Jeff in some way when Jay was born.

“I love his mum and bred the litter - I guess in all the years I’ve been in greyhounds, he’s possibly the best,” she said.

“Jeff always loved Abby Keaolah…when he passed away and the dogs were being broken in, I said to Michael the best one I’d like to call Jay Is Jay, which is Jeffrey Ingram Silk Jones.

“So that’s how he got the name Jay Is Jay because it was all Jeff’s initials Jay.

“To me, he’s our dog - Michael’s, Selena’s and myself.

“I class him as our dog and I would love him to be Queensland’s dog too.”

Selena also now has a permanent tribute to Jay and her father, with a fresh tattoo of the superstar dog on her arm.

“When he won the Million Dollar Chase, I thought you know what, I love this dog, he means so much to me,” Selena said.

“He’s named after my Dad, and I’m going to get that tattooed on my arm.

“I am more than happy with it - I said I don’t want it to look like just any dog, it has to be my dog and I think she pretty much nailed it.

For all her confidence, Selena is well aware of the mammoth mountain the star sprinter will need to climb on Saturday night.

Jay has drawn box eight and is sitting seventh on the line of betting as of Monday afternoon.

Pass The Buck (box one) and Cranbourne Cup winner Alpha Zulu (box three) have been installed as equal favourites, while Million Dollar Chase runner-up Postman Pat has drawn box four.

But Selena believes Jay will take an advantage in, having earnt his right to be RQ’s representative with a win.

“It’s not like you’ve got a maiden, no-good dog that’s turning up – every dog is a champion in my eyes that will be in that race and they will all be trying as we will be to win it,” Selena said.

“It’s not going to be an easy race to win for any one of the dogs and in greyhound racing we all need a bit of luck and we need things to go our way on the night so it’s anybody’s race.”

“It's the best way to get into The Phoenix as far as I’m concerned with Racing Queensland buying a slot in the race.

“You have to win to get that slot but I think it’s better than waiting for someone to approach you to do a deal to go into the race.

“This way we know what our deal is with Racing Queensland and I think out all of the dogs going into the race, we’ve got the best deal by winning our way into the race.”

The Zammits have headed to Victoria early in a bid to give Jay the best possible chance of adjusting to conditions before the big dance out at Broadmeadows.

Adjusting to Melbourne’s notoriously fickle weather will add another challenge for the Zammit camp.

“Coming from Queensland it’s just always hot so the dogs aren’t used to three different climates in a day so we’re going down a week early,” Selena said.

“He’s had a couple of starts there and a trial there and we just thought the best idea would be to get him back to Melbourne as soon as we could, get him climatised.

“He already knows the kennels and where he’s staying - it’s more just to do with the weather.

“He will have a post-to-post at The Meadows and a couple of sprints up the straight there and that will be his preparation.”

As for Lillian, the 80-year-old has decided against making the trip south.

She went viral after cameras caught an emotional FaceTime chat with Selena following the Million Dollar Chase win.

A win on the weekend could see a repeat of similar jubilant scenes.

“I’m thrilled that he’s in the race in Melbourne - I couldn’t go down, I’d probably pass out watching it so I’ll sit at home and watch it on my TV,” Lillian said.

“There’s no guarantees in a race and if he doesn’t happen to win, then I hope he does Queensland justice.”