Ninetymile King conquers new challenge

By Isaac Murphy

Ninetymile King has been a dog that has captured the attention of the greyhound public, with his brilliant runs home taking him all the way to the Group 1 Gold Bullion final for trainer Bianca Whitford.

As stunning as it was to watch him jump out of the ground late over the sprint trip, Whitford and her partner Chris Johnson always knew the 600-metre distance would be where he made his imprint, and a second dominant win over the trip on Monday night has him on target for higher honours in the run to the Winter Carnival.

“We could’ve got him up to the 600 a lot earlier and have had plenty of people encouraging us, but while he was running good races behind some of the best dogs at Albion Park, we thought he deserved a shot at the Gold Bullion before we did anything else,” Whitford said.

“He did us proud making a Group 1 final, finishing fifth behind the likes of Shima Shine, Crazy Cool and Tommy Shelby was a great result.

“His lack of box speed got him in trouble, but he’s the hardest chaser I’ve ever had anything to do with.

“We would have looked to step him up the next week, but he had a slight case of the kennel cough, so we waited three weeks between runs but he’s there to stay now.”

His preparation for his maiden middle-distance start three weeks ago was far from ideal, but the dog found a way to win on talent, clocking 35.03 seconds on debut and 35.02 into a head wind second-up.

“We were ecstatic with his first win, he was a little underdone given the short layoff and we’d never trialled him out of the 600 boxes either, to find a way to get it done was some sort of effort,” Whitford said.

“He’s only had the two races but looks like he’s developing a bit of a pattern dropping back at the start and getting to the outside and with the turn of speed he has around that first corner, he’s up running in the first few past the winning post the first time.

“Both runs he’s probably struck the front a little bit earlier than expected and having had just two races starts in six weeks probably doesn’t have the fitness to really go on with it yet, which we’re hoping to see over his next few starts.”

With a clean bill of health, Whitford is slowly ramping the dog’s work up at home with aspirations of another distance jump in the pipelines.

“Now he’s clear of any effects of the kennel cough, than plan is to give him a bit more work each week in order to press on and try him over the 700 metres eventually,” she said.

“We have the blueprint of knowing how to get him from the 500 to the 600, so the 700 is obviously a different challenge, but if we space his runs and keep him in good condition it shouldn’t be a problem.

“The long-term plan is to have him ready for a crack at the Group 1 Queensland Cup and hopefully have him in the final on the July 1, there’s some nice races in the build up with the Origin Distance and the Dashing Corsair which would be ideal lead ins.”

Ninetymile King has only missed the money three times from his 22 starts, and whilst his ability plays a big factor, it’s also the strategic placement from the kennel that underlines his stellar record.

“We’ve been very deliberate in navigating a path for him where he’s never had to race out of his depth, he’s actually still a fifth-grade dog over the 500 metres, we just decided to put him in open company,” Whitford said.

“Short-term he still has a couple of grades to tick off over the 600 metres, which we’re hoping he can take care of pretty quickly and get him racing in Open company on Thursday nights which will be excellent competition before we hit the 700.

“We entertained giving him a run at the Capalaba Cup in a few weeks’ time given his winning history up there, but as enticing that is it’d probably set him back a week or two with his staying goals, so we’ll give it a miss.”

A former Victorian, Whitford has made sure to remember where it all began at the famous Ninetymile Beach on the Gippsland coast.

“We used to live a short drive from Ninetymile Beach when we were down in Victoria and would take the dogs there for a walk in the water every week and saw it fitting we name him and a few others after the beach,” She said.

“You can’t build a facility like that on your property, the dogs go so much out of it.

“In saying that, the move to Queensland has been everything we’ve hoped for; we’ve established ourselves at Capalaba and are hoping to have a few follow in Ninetymile King’s footsteps and get to Albion Park.”