Proper Gent pursues $100k Masters milestone

By Isaac Murphy

No dog is more worthy for a spot in Thursday’s Racing Queensland Masters heats than John McCarthy’s Proper Gent.

The 133-start marvel will look for career win 39 at four-and-a-half years old in heat three and McCarthy is quietly confident of a finals birth and a crack at the $19,000 purse.

Proper Gent has won more than 30 of his races from the 431-metre start at Ipswich, but fittingly he’s looking to end his career where he started it over the 520 metres at Albion.

“His last start was probably one of the most disappointing of his career, but he had a bit of an excuse with a bung toe and he missed the kick - I’m just not used to him putting in an average run,” McCarthy said.

“He’s had a week off which looks to have done him the world of good, he came up the straight at home looking spot on.

“We took him away from Ipswich where he’d done most of his racing and most of his winning from the 431 metre start and we thought we’d give him a go in the Masters.

“He’s been as honest as ever and got rewarded with a rare Thursday night Albion park win back in April.”

McCarthy said the decision to come to Albion park was two-fold; he was struggling on the corner start in top-grade at Ipswich and the money on offer in Masters company was too good to pass up.

“We’ve given him a prolonged crack at the 520-metre trip and he’s made a really good fist of it, he’s always in the first few in Masters Grade,” he said.

“It got a bit tough when he went up to Fourth Grade for a few starts but that’s racing.

“We’re quietly confident he can run a race going into this week, hopefully he has a bit of sense for the occasion and can get through to the final.”

Proper Gent draws the squeeze box (5) in his heat, but the veteran has seen every start and McCarthy gives him a good chance in an even race.

“I haven’t studied the field too closely for Thursday night but there doesn’t look like there are any knockout hopes, he should get his chance,” he said.

“Box five doesn’t do anyone any favours but if he steps like he can and puts himself in a position early he’s every chance, if not to win to hopefully run time to get him into next week’s final.”

McCarthy applauded Racing Queensland and the Brisbane Greyhound Club for the continued running of the race, giving grand old stagers like Proper Gent one last crack at the big time.

“I think the race is a great concept; you’ve got dogs that are at that age and in our case at their one 134^th start that are past their best but still have a real hunger for racing and it’s nice to give them something to aim at,” he said.

“The club is fantastic getting at least two Masters races on each week but to schedule a feature gives dogs that aren’t earning a huge amount of money anymore a chance to shine.”

Proper Gent has led plenty of races at Albion Park but only won a handful, and McCarthy couldn’t believe his eyes when he came from behind to win back in April.

“He’s never been overly strong over the 520 metres; we tried him there early in his career and soon realised he needed a bit shorter and he went away and won his 30-odd races at Ipswich which was fantastic,” he said.

“I’m not sure if he’s given me a more enjoyable win than in April where he was headed by She’s Some Gal clearly in the run and actually fought back and came from behind to win over the 520 - that’s something I never thought I was going to see.”

McCarthy couldn’t speak highly enough of the journey Proper Gent had taken him on, but thinks he has a little left in the tank to reach a significant milestone.

“The dog doesn’t owe us anything; he’s brought us so much joy but we’d love just one more win at Albion to get him over the $100,000 prize money mark,” he said.

“He’s a favourite around the kennel and obviously has a home for life here, he’s as relaxed as they come at home.

“It’s funny when I take him to Albion Park, they call him the grumpy dog because he growls and snarls at everything when he’s the perfect gentlemen at home - when he gets to the race track it’s still all business.”

Asked about his longevity, McCarthy said the dog had a good run with injuries and just kept turning up wanting to race - he’s not done yet.

“We’ve been pretty lucky with injuries, he’s had a little bit of time off lately and you think is this it, then he’ll bounce back with another win and the dog just continues to amaze,” he said.

“We still think he’s got a fair bit of racing in him, he knows when it’s race day as he basically drags you to the van.

“As long as he’s healthy and wants to race we’ll press on.”