Johnstone enjoying the ride with an unexpected stayer

By Isaac Murphy

Breeding his first litter as a trainer was milestone enough for Darren Johnstone as Victorian sprinter Stay Warm combined with Fernando Bale to produce four pups bred for speed.

Little did the trainer know his number one prospect out of the litter would not be winning over the short course, but making a name for herself over the staying trip.

Maggie Moo Moo has never been out of the money in her four starts at Albion Park and at two-years-old, is only scraping the surface.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think Maggie Moo Moo would get the 600 metres, especially when her mother Stay Warm struggled to run out a strong 400,” Johnstone laughed.

“Stay Warm was a very good short-course bitch in Victoria who was the mother of Daisy Dreams - who was a sprinter for us as well - so even though we bred with Fernando Bale we were thinking 500 would be right on their limit.

“She started off quite well at Ipswich over the 431 metres winning a few races and getting down around the 25.3 mark, the 500 was next and she was flashing home, so I thought why not give her a 600 and see how she goes and that’s her trip going forward.”

The bitch will look for her third win at the distance in a Fifth Grade contest Thursday night, which Johnstone thinks is right up her alley.

“I’m quietly confident about her running well tonight, she doesn’t mind a middle draw and still gets in with Fifth Grade dogs, she’s up to the grade,” the trainer said.

“Her first 600 on a Thursday night she just arrived a little too late when Brent Kline’s good bitch Shilo beat her, she’s definitely taken improvement since then - I think she can go one better.

“She does like to get off the track a bit at the start, that’s her racing pattern; she’s not a railer but you don’t want to lose too much ground on that first turn.”

A few months ago, Johnstone wouldn’t have believed he’d have his chaser in this position as she started off slow over the short course.

“It was a pretty big deal for us, being our first litter we weren’t expecting any stars but were hoping for at least one handy one and of the four dog litter she was trialling the best at 25.8 early days, it was fair to say we were a bit worried,” he said.

“Her siblings are limited in their ability, but she’s just continued to step up to the plate has a bit of prizemoney to her name and is getting a bit of a reputation after I almost wrote the litter off.

“In my opinion you shouldn’t worry too much about break-in times, with a bitch like her who clearly wants more ground they are never going to run time, you’ve just got to give them a chance.”

Maggie Moo Moo is lapping up her extra work, having no problem backing up for two runs a week.

“It’s been a pretty natural progression to the 600 metres and it’s where she wants to be, I haven’t really changed much, she just gets a lot more of her work on the track,” Johnstone said.

“She ran a bold race Monday and pulled up fine, so I had no problem putting her in Thursday again.

“We won’t do that every week, but it’s been good while she builds her tank up.

“It’s been a bit of trial by fire for her, I brought her to Albion for a couple of 500s where she flashed home into the placings and as soon as she turned two she was straight to the 600 - you’ve got to see what they’re made of.”

Johnstone is carving his own legacy as a trainer and didn’t worry about outside opinions on what to do with the bitch.

“Plenty of people saw those eye catching runs over the 500 and said why don’t you have her up over the 600 and 700 metres, the reason being I wasn’t sure she would even get 500 with her breeding,” he said.

“As a rule of thumb, I think around two is a good time to step them up and fortunately that timing lined up for us and she was able to make the jump without getting knocked around over the sprint.

“I had about four offers to buy her after those 500 runs, people I knew were pretty good judges, so I made sure I held on to her and she’s repaid the faith thus far.”

She hasn’t taken a backward step against some seasoned middle-distance chasers and is certainly not scared of the competition.

“Her form’s been really good, two wins and two runners-up over the 600, she just got tracked down by Pump It last start who’s been at it a lot longer than us - I think we’ve got plenty of improvement,” Johnstone said.

“The good dogs need to break the 35 seconds and she’s right on the cusp of that while still learning.

“She’s still just figuring it all out, her run homes have been almost identical but sometimes she’s come out near last from inside draws and near the top from middle or outside draws - that time will eventually drop.”