Zammits set for a Thursday night out

By Isaac Murphy

Selena and Mick Zammit are always major players on a Thursday night at Albion Park and this week looks to be no exception.

The kennel will rug up new acquisitions Georgia Keeping and Payton Keeping in the Easter Trophy heats, Paint Face over the middle-distance, and superstar Sequana in Best 8 company.

Mick Zammit spoke about all runners’ chances, starting with the litter sisters, who’ve hit the ground running at Albion Park but meet their strongest competition yet.

“They’d both been racing solely out at Dubbo which is a good place to start your career, but the owners saw an opportunity with their class to bring them to Brisbane and after doing our homework we were happy to accept,” Mick Zammit said.

“The signs have been really good since they arrived; Georgia Keeping has won a couple of 500-metre races and Payton Keeping has been knocking on the door; once they fully settle, we’ll have a couple of good Thursday class bitches.

“I was looking forward to the Easter Trophy and still am but boxes eight and seven respectively for Georgia and Payton has cooled me down a bit - they definitely would prefer to be inside - but it’s another key race in their progression.”

Zammit said you could never be fully sure how form translates from track to track, but the duo have shown him more than enough so far.

“They’ve surprised me with their strength since they’ve arrived; Georgia Keeping in particular looks like she’ll get the 600 and her sister might not be far behind her,” he said.

“I guess that’s what we can offer for greyhounds coming to Brisbane, they were confined to the sprint at Dubbo.

“They’re quick home but not all that quick out, so in good Fifth Grade company it’s going to be tough for both of them to find their way across from the wide draws, but we’ll persist with them at track and trip.”

Multiple Thursday night winner Paint Face has been a frustrating watch of late, getting well back in her sprint races and rattling home.

The 600 metres looked the natural progression and the kennel was happy to oblige, with the bitch wearing the seven rug in her Fourth/Fifth Grade contest.

“She’s just gone a little dour at the start over the sprint, she’s still chasing hard and running some good races, but she’s too far out of her ground to get there so we thought it was time for the 600,” Zammit said.

“Last week was the first time since some of her early wins she came out well, but was outclassed in a Fifth Grade final, we’re hoping she can land a bit closer to them over more ground.

“She’s a bit one paced but does have a high cruising speed, if she can sustain that over the middle-distance, she should run some handy time.”

The Best 8 sees the return of the second fastest bitch of all time at Albion in Sequana, but she faces a red hot All Hands Off who recently became the third fastest bitch in what’s sure to be an enthralling contest not only this week but moving forward.

“It’s nice bringing Sequana back from coming on season, we’d been getting used to bringing her back from injury, but she’s had no problems on that front of late,” Zammit said.

“She’s pretty wound up and ready to go, she meets All Hands Off who’s flying on Thursday, but we just want to see her go out and be competitive and on what we’ve seen she’ll be right there.

“She’s not getting any younger but with a bitch of her immense talent you never really lose that turn of foot and strong run home, we think she can really feature over the Winter Carnival.”