Columbian King reigns over Capalaba

By Isaac Murphy

With a full program of feature races and outstanding prize money on offer every weekend at Capalaba, there are more and more dogs like Jamie Hosking’s Columbian King that are becoming track specialists.

The two-year-old took down Jasper The Jet in his Grand Prix heat on Sunday and is drawn well to make it win number seven at the track in this week’s final.

“I started racing him there and he was going pretty well and it’s quickly morphed into his home turf, he’s got a great record up there and he’s loving it,” Hosking said.

“If he can lead around the circle he’s just as good, it’s when he gets behind other dogs he struggles to find a way past them.

“At Capalaba even if he misses it slightly like he did on the weekend he’s able to drive through dogs rather than have to run around them.

“I was really pleased with his heat win, it wasn’t his cleanest race up there but he came out well behind Jasper The Jet and really had to work for it in the middle and late stages - it was a tough win.”

A lot of dogs develop racing patterns up the straight and rely on box draws, however Columbian King isn’t one of them and should get every chance from the red come Sunday.

“Unlike some other dogs at Capalaba, it doesn’t seem to bother him where he draws,” Hosking said.

“He generally comes out with them and really gets going mid-race where he can get to the middle of the track, he’s won off the inside and outside, he’ll have no problems with box one.

“It’s more about the habits of the dogs drawn around him and Opal Prince who’s drawn beside him in box two tends to get off the track a little bit, so that could certainly be in his favour early.”

Pressed for major threats in the race, Hosking cited another Capalaba specialist and last week’s sparring partner.

“I think the eight Mob Deep is drawn really well Sunday, he’s won a lot of races from out there and will probably get a similar run to us except on the outside of the track,” he said.

“Then you’ve got a dog like Jasper The Jet who can obviously run some real time, but more often than not you see the dogs that race at Capalaba week in week out win these races.

“I think Stinger Noir is first reserve which speaks to the quality.”

Hosking has flirted with the idea of getting back to circle racing, but for now is happy to keep the momentum going at Capalaba, with the current winning streak at five.

“I thought long and hard about putting him in the Capalaba To The Creek race a couple of weeks ago, but he hasn’t raced around Albion Park for a while and I thought it just might break his rhythm he’s built at Capalaba a bit - he can do some silly things when he gets into trouble,” Hosking said.

“It has been a bit frustrating trying to get his manners right at Albion Park, he won his maiden there in 30.20 and only ran home in thirteen; I thought if he can just get a touch stronger, he’ll be a really good circle dog.

“I think he’ll make it as a 500-metre dog eventually, his recent two wins at Ipswich in 25.18 and 25.33 show he can handle a tricky start.

“There’s just no reason to go away from a winning formula at Capalaba right now.”

Columbian King is Hosking’s Capalaba poster boy, but the former Northern Territory trainer said he couldn’t stress enough how lucky Queensland was to have a straight track.

“I take just about all my young dogs to Capalaba, for mine there’s just no better place to educate your pups than up the straight - it’s an invaluable venue for us trainers,” he said.

“There’s not as much trouble and for dogs like Columbian King who was a bit ungainly early, it’s really brought him out of his shell and matured him into a much better race dog.

“Fortunately for us it’s just been released that there are a few more features on their way at Capalaba, so he’ll stay there until then and should hit them in really good form.”

Early on in his career, Columbian King was left in the shadow of his Dyna Double One/Pauls Memory litter mate Waddling Witch, who boats a 29.74 Albion Park best.

She recently trialled well before the Group 1 Peter Mosman Opal heats at Wentworth Park, but was luckless in the run.

“The trip down for the Peter Mosman was as much about the experience as it was the result, although she’s run really good time up here and beaten some good dogs, she’s still very young mentally - she’ll be better for the trip,” Hosking said.

“Geoffrey Sattler - who’s taking care of her down there - bred the dam line (Pauls Memory) and knows a lot about the breed.

“We’re good mates and he was more than happy to take her on for a month or so.

“We’ve actually left her down there for the time being; she’s picked up a little bit of a virus, but looking ahead she’ll be back up here for the Molly Campbell Silver Collar but while she’s down there we might have a look at a race at The Gardens.”