Brook not scared of Derby birth

By Isaac Murphy

Gin Gin trainer Ron Brook wasn’t afraid to declare Not Scared the most talented two-year-old he’d ever had in his kennels.

The trainer has nominated the prospect for next Monday’s Bundaberg Derby, where he will tangle with open class dogs in just start four of his career, but on what he has produced so far you can’t blame Brook for taking the shot.

Brook said he was 50/50 on nominating before Not Scared’s stunning six-length win on Monday, where he was last away and powered from them in the run to the line, and everything is pointing to a step up in distance.

“I probably only made my mind up to nominate him late yesterday, I think he’s just a yard too slow to the first corner over the four hundred and sixty metres and is getting into a bit of bother there and as he gets up in grade they’re only going to go faster,” he said.

“I had a good look at his run home times and he has five hundred and fifty metres written all over him, he takes a couple of strides to get into rhythm and with the longer straight from the five hundred and fifty boxes it should really suit him.”

Not Scared only has three starts to his name but they all have merit, and the dog is going to be a scary proposition when he matures.

“He got himself into a little bit of trouble on Monday, slow away and luckily enough had the smarts about him to go back to the rail and once he drove to the front, he really hit the line,” Brook said.

“He got in similar bother in his maiden where he ended up three abreast from box one down the back and ended up putting nine on them.

“His only defeat last week he just couldn’t find a way past the lead dog, checked off heals a couple of times still only got beaten by half-a-length in 26.50, he hasn’t run a bad race yet.”

Not Scared jumps from box four is his heat of the Derby facing some familiar south-east Queensland names, however Brook is comfortable with his decision to take on the big boys.

“From box four everything is going to depend on that first 30 to 40 metres going to that first corner, traditionally the dogs who run over the longer distance aren’t quite as nippy early and I’d love to see him prominent in the run,” he said.

“I wouldn’t say I’m confident, a dog like Shakey Diesel is a Group 3 winner and runs in Best 8s in Brisbane, and Engage has been excellent at the track at well, but at some stage you’ve got to throw your hat in and see how he goes.

“He’s the new kid on the block and a bit of an unknown quantity, but he’s got a level head I think he’ll go well.”

The Derby heat isn’t all about winning, and now looms as an invaluable learning curve for the dog whose future is over the trip and in open class.

“I think 500 metres is going to be his go long term, his dam line Winsome Amanda was a really powerful bitch in New South Wales, and he might have a few of her traits,” Brook said.

“You can question if we’re pushing him a bit early at start four in a Derby but those are the dogs we want him to be competitive with and this race only comes around once a year, so we’ll see what he’s made of Monday.

“It’s a win-win really, he would’ve been racing over the 550 metres on Monday anyways and the Derby just happened to be on.

“He’s only got to finish in the top four of the seven runners, if he can make the final, he’ll be that much better for the run.”

The dog’s nine-length maiden win didn’t come as a surprise to Brook, who’d seen his freakish abilities from a young age after making his siblings look ordinary.

“He came up from New South Wales with two brothers who just have never had the same attitude as this bloke, they almost looked like they came out of a different paddock,” Brook said.

“I took him for a couple of slips and went ‘boy his guy goes alright’ but his brothers weren’t much good.

“I trialled him after that and he broke 27 seconds first look at the track and then a couple of weeks later went 26.19 - that’s when I knew we had something.

“He had another trial before his first run back from a short little spell and he went 26.22, so he’s been winning races and we know he can go much quicker on the clock, his 550-metre time will be very interesting.”

Brook’s already got solid plans in place for his potential star, with a trip to Brisbane a big possibility down the track.

“He’s probably one of the nicest prospects I’ve ever had in my kennels, especially at this young stage of his career where he’s still racing a bit green,” he said.

“He’s only going to get that out of his racing the more times we can get him to the track, he could get a bit lost first time over more distance but when he gets it right he’s going to be a serious commodity.

“We’ve got a bit of a plan for him over the next month, the Young Guns over 510 metres is on up in Rockhampton in a couple of weeks’ time and then it’s the Bundaberg Cup which if he keeps improving I won’t hesitate to throw him in.

“After that we might think about Brisbane.”