By Isaac Murphy
The Queensland Short Course Free For All Final was last run at the Gabba in 1993 and while it was a long time between drinks the race came back with a bang as the Cynthia Elson trained Wazza Who took a remarkable .19 seconds off Silent Sonny’s track record setting the new bench mark at 18.5 seconds.
At just twenty-one months the dog already has twelve wins under his belt, but kennel representative Warren Elson said it was only a recent move back to the short course which had given the dog new life.
“He’s done plenty of racing over the 520 metres with his share of success, but his uneven sectionals were causing him a few problems,” Warren Elson said.
“His second sectional in his 520 metre races is probably the quickest of all the dogs at Albion, so Mum (Cynthia Elson) said why don’t we try him out of the 331m boxes which jump straight onto his favourite part of the track.”
The training move was a masterstroke with Wazza Who winning two of his three starts at the trip including the record breaking final.
Warren Elson said while he knew the dog could run time the biggest question was whether he could jump with the likes of the Darren Russell duo Go Lassie Go and Fab Fit.
“We knew if he got out early he’d have the strength to lead throughout, but there were a number of dogs who are far more reliable beginners than him,” Elson said.
“Luckily he flew the lids for the first time in his last ten starts and what a race to do it in.”
Warren Elson gave full credit to Mum and trainer Cynthia who had done a lot of work educating the youngster and despite his short course title would soon be back over the 520.
“My mum has done a lot of work with this dog to get his manners right and she deserves all the credit for getting him right for this race,” he said.
“We’ll look to take him back to the 520 now and if he can keep jumping like he did tonight his first and second sectionals will win him a lot of races over the trip.”
The fastest run over the 520 on the night came from Tommy Tzouvelis’ Brandi Alexander who blew the 5th Grade field away, running home in 29.82.
The dog will now head South to defend a trophy Tzouvelis won last year.
“She had a bad fall about three starts back which shook her confidence a bit,” Tzouvelis said.
“Hopefully getting on the bunny tonight and getting some clear running room gives her that confidence back.”
“The plan is to head to The Group Two Launceston Cup with her and try to defend the title her kennel mate Del Rey won last year.”
Joanne Price’s Infrared Star continued his meteoric rise as a 600-metre dog, the Group Three Queensland Cup winner comfortably accounting for the favoured Big Bad Bob in another sub 35 second run.
Kennel representative Jason Aylward said the dog was in peak racing condition and the team couldn’t wait to get him to his next assignment.
“He bounces back brilliantly this dog, you wouldn’t know he’d won a Group Three last week,” Aylward said.
“He pinched an early break on Big Bad Bob tonight and once he gets to the front he doesn’t get run down.”
“We just received an invite to race in the Rookie Rebel event at the Meadows, it’s over 600 and he couldn’t be going any better, so I think we’ll take him there.”