Apap takes aim at third Vince Curry crown

By Isaac Murphy

The Apap kennel have always placed great emphasis on the Group 3 Vince Curry Series, with Tony and daughter Christina having won the race twice - in 2012 with Brook Lee and 2018 with Rose Honey.

Their ability to have pups ready on time is second to none and they’ll look for a third crown with Manfred lining up in Saturday’s Final.

Manfred has run second in both his heat and semi-final to make the final eight, and despite not winning, Tony Apap is happy with his progress and would love to break his maiden on the big stage.

“He’s done a good job in the heat and semi to find the fence, avoid some wayward runners and stick on, he’s got plenty of good traits you like to see in a young dog,” Apap said.

“I’d probably put most of it down to having a few starts over the 431 metres late last year, it wasn’t his first time under race conditions and that’s paid off thus far.

“He was getting crunched at the jump over the short course and with the Vince Curry approaching we said ‘why not tip him out and top him up for a couple of months and see how he goes,’ and he’s given himself a shot.”

Manfred’s made his way to the Final by consistently getting out of the lids, something that is critical to his chances from box six on Saturday.

“There’s a lot of speed in the race particularly around him in box six; Running Express in five can go, Feel the Beat in seven has been quick,” Apap said.

“We can match it with them, but we just have to hope he gets out best.

“Then you’ve got the Scott dogs - Trivet and Canaveral in boxes one and three - who won’t be on the speed early, but on what we’ve seen will be finishing off best.

“Luck is a huge element, you’ve got eight young dogs going hell for leather over the sprint trip; through my experience in the race a lot of the time the quickest dog going forward might not win, it often goes to the quickest on the night.”

Apap has plenty of authority to speak on the race given his stellar record and gives Manfred a fighting chance to come out on top.

“It’s been a good race for us over the years, we’ve been in the final a bunch of times and won it twice, which is a big notch on the belt because you have to prepare for the series a long way out,” he said.

“I remember we won it with a bitch named Rose Honey in 2018, we had three in the heats and rated her third out of the lot of them - she was the only one to get past the first round and win the whole lot.

“It’s been a little different with Manfred, the expectations have probably been slightly higher, but the aim was to get him to the final and he’s there - we’re pretty content.”

Apap is hoping the series can slingshot Manfred into a fruitful career, and he’s seen plenty of improvement in five starts with a lot more to come.

“He might have a slight experience edge over a few runners but we’re only just scraping the surface with him, he’s still got a lot to figure out and there wouldn’t be a better time to do it than in the Vince Curry Final,” he said.

“He’s probably not as strong as we’d like at this stage but hopefully third up over the 500, we can continue to see this improvement.

“I enjoy that aspect of this series seeing them develop over the three weeks.

“The one thing he’s always had is good box manners’ we’ve trialled him multiple times over the 431 metres and he’s broken 25 seconds, which is really good going for a young dog and he looks ready made for a long career.”

The dog is the progeny of Barcia Bale and champion Queensland bitch Hougenie, with plenty of positives coming out of the rare line.

“I’ve been very lucky to get my hands on a dog out of Hougenie, she was a top race bitch for Peter Ruetschi mostly over the middle-distances and couple that with Fernando Bale and we’ve got a really promising type,” Apap said.

“She’s (Hougenie) been retired as a brood bitch now, so you won’t see many Hougenies going around.

“Hopefully if this boy says sound, he can have half the career his mother did.

“The dog is owned by my daughter Christina’s partner’s parents Brett and Tracy Harman; Tracy’s been a bit sick of late but has been well enough to come to the track and see the dog race, it’s great to see him giving her a boost.”