Boody said it would be easy to be intimidated by what is expected to be one of the strongest cup fields to date, but she just had to worry about her own and Hollow Words is on song.
“There were plenty of very fast 520 and 600 metre dogs at Capalaba on Sunday you don’t normally see there,” Boody said.
“The heats are going to be very tough but you can’t worry about the rest of them, our dog’s going well and that’s the main thing.
“He’s very versatile when it comes to boxes, he always seems to find his way to the middle of the track whether he’s drawn in or out, he’s just got to start with them and he’s a big chance.
“We’ve been blessed that racing has gone ahead with everything coming to a standstill, I think it’s even been a positive for Capalaba with much more local interest in the Cup.”
Hollow Words has picked a tough year to try to knock off the Cup, but Boody said she knows the dog is capable.
“We’ve never even had a runner in the Capalaba Cup heats, so to see him hitting his straps at the right time is definitely encouraging,” she said.
“I wouldn’t race him if I didn’t think he could win the whole thing, but I try not to get overly excited as things can change pretty drastically in a week.”
The dog’s form read fairly plain around Ipswich and Albion Park, but the re-opening of the Capalaba track was just the tonic to get back the confidence he’ll need this Sunday.
“He hadn’t been having much luck around the circle, so we were pretty relieved the Capalaba Club was able to get up and running again to give him a shot,” Boody said.
“He ran really well there two starts ago behind Cult Hero who ran 19.71 that day, and then backed it up to win in 19.89 on Sunday - the second quickest off the day so he’s finding form at the right time.
“He hadn’t won a race since December last year, winning will do no end to his confidence in what I’m hearing could be up to six to eight heats on Sunday.”
Boody is yet to solve the mystery of why the dog can’t take his Capalaba form to the circle tracks, but known to keep dogs up well over four-years-old, Boody thinks there is plenty of time to figure it out.
“You only have to look at his record to know he’s a better dog at Capalaba than other venues, he just hasn’t quite clicked around Albion Park and Ipswich,” she said.
“We’re still hoping the penny might drop one day and he can perform at our major tracks, but he’s a big lanky dog and with not a lot of early pace - he just tends to find plenty of trouble on the corners.
“He’s three in May, so he’s getting to the point you want to see him come out of his shell, but my dogs quite often don’t peak until they’re four so I’m not too worried about him.”
Boody said she was hoping to continue with Hollow Words at Capalaba and try to defend his straight track crown in August with nationals set to be held in Queensland, but the COVID-19 pandemic has put the event in doubt.
“When we went down for the National Straight Track Championship, he was probably a little bit immature to be racing in that company and he just didn’t handle the travel and the cold weather at all,” Boody said.
“He lost a significant amount of weight and even getting myself down there and set up was tough in a short time frame, I think you can safely say we’ll be staying in Queensland from now on.
“The Championships were supposed to be up here this year which would have been ideal for him, we’ll just have to cross our fingers.”