The Jungle Deuce juggernaut leads New South Wales to Origin victory

By Isaac Murphy

The 2021 State of Origin Series was given the heart stopping finish it deserved.

It was tied at one apiece after Barsandi won the distance for New South Wales and Orchestrate the sprint for Queensland.

Jungle Deuce and Extra Malt then squared off in an epic match race where the southerner was a touch too good.

Extra Malt made a race of it early on, leading Jungle Deuce out of straight, but Jack Smith’s dog continued to find, edging to a lead that he wouldn’t relinquish.

The dog has now won four straight feature races, the Group 3 new Sensation, the Brother Fox at Dubbo, the Group 2 Flying Amy and now the Origin Match Race.

The greyhound has the trainer pinching himself.

“I’ve been lucky to have some good runs in the greyhound game of late but with this win, that’s four straight feature finals for this dog, he just doesn’t let you down,” Smith said.

“We were a length or so off exiting the straight, but he’s always got his head on a swivel and when he saw half a gap to poke up on the fence, he took it and that was probably the winning move when he found the front down the back.

“Credit to Extra Malt she’s a super young bitch and gave us everything we could handle tonight, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen my dog give up the front when he’s found it.”

Smith was the reigning champion of the match race after Feral Franky’s win in 2019 and he was full of New South Wales pride post-race.

“I was always hopeful of getting a start in the match race, we’ve got some great memories from 2019 with Feral Franky and Jungle Deuce has come from behind to win in similar fashion,” he said.

“I don’t know if there were any nerves from him pre-race but here were certainly a few from me when Queensland levelled the series at one apiece.

“As per usual he didn’t let me or his state down, a win like this is always sweeter when you can share it with fans of the dog.”

Brett Orchestrates an Origin masterpiece

Tony Brett’s Orchestrate produced the run of his life to level the series earlier in the evening, flying the lids in a first out first home performance.

“He had to run the perfect race to win tonight, I was hoping he could go 5.47 seconds to the mark and lead them and he’s come out and run 5.43,” Brett said.

“There was no stopping him from there he opened up a bigger gap down the back and I think he could hear the crowd roar because that’s the quickest he’s ever run home.

“I thought he’d need a bit of luck behind him to win but he’s come out and run 29.66. He just keeps getting better this dog and he’s done it on the big stage.”

In an emotional night for Brett, he saw New South Wales hope Zipping Niseko go under in the staying race but couldn’t contain his excitement in doing it for Queensland.

“I would’ve loved a result with Zipping Niseko and New South Wales in the stayers, she’s part of the family and will bounce back, but to get my maroon guernsey on and see Orchestrate win the Origin Sprint takes the cake,” he said.

“You have to say he’s a genuine Group 1 dog after that run (29.66), that was some kind of field and once he led, they couldn’t keep up.

“What a concept Origin is it’s not often you come back to a crowd like this, let’s hope we’re doing it again in a few weeks’ time after The Brisbane Cup.”

Barsandi bursts onto the staying scene with Origin success

Dave Richardson’s Barsandi is a proven talent over the middle-distance.

But the jury was still out on his staying credentials until Thursday night when he gave New South Wales an early buffer in the Staying Final.

“Being out of Sandave Sapphire and seeing others in the litter excel over the staying trips I knew it would be a matter of time until she got up over the 700 metres, but I didn’t see her winning a race of this magnitude so soon,” Richardson said.

“Her run homes over the 600 were getting better and better and with this race approaching I had to bite the bullet and get her over the seven hundred.

“I thought she showed plenty without winning in her first couple of runs in the Dashing Corsair and I’m glad the New South Wales selectors saw it the same way.”

With plenty of run-on power in the field, the front runner had to pinch a break and did just that leading past the post the first and second time around.

“She had to fly the lids and get them chasing early and that’s exactly what she did, we know how quick she is over the 600 and they just didn’t have enough gas left to stay in touch with her,” Richardson said.

“The exciting thing is we’re only just getting started, she’ll run a lot better time than 41.98 seconds, but she’s done what she needed to do to bring home the money and the win for New South Wales.

“I can’t wait for the next few weeks with the Super Stayers and onto the Queensland Cup where she should be at the peak of her powers.”

Regal Rocky pulls rank on kennelmate

All eyes were on Ray and Mary Burman’s bitch Out of Champagne in the Emerging Origin Stars Final as the progeny of Champagne Sally stepped up to the plate at just 17 months of age.

She came in for good support after a brilliant 30.33 second win at Ipswich last Saturday night.

But she took a back seat to more experienced kennel mate Regal Rocky, who used his race sense to get around the first turn and track down Merchant Navy.

“It’s not the way we imagined the race panning out, we were hoping Out of Champagne could repeat her Ipswich debut and remain unbeaten, but when they all came together at the first turn, I was just happy to see she got through unscathed,” Mary Burman said.

“We were surprised Regal Rocky was still eligible for the race given all the starts he’s had but he’s still under 27 months, so we thought why not throw him in and it’s paid off.

“I think we won the race back in 2019 with Dynamite Lucy, we like to start our dogs young so it’s always a race we’ll look to be competitive in.”

Regal Rocky has seemingly been around forever and the runs in the legs were crucial when he abbreviated a five-length gap down the back.

“Rocky is much more effective over the middle-distance of late, but he’s a big hulking dog and got the best of the scrimmage to land in a nice spot,” Burman said.

“He still had a handy one to chase down in Merchant Navy but give him clear running room and he was able to charge home over the top.

“We’ve squared the ledger in the lead up Origin races getting one for Queensland, hopefully Smart Lilly can come out and run the race of her like in the Origin Distance Final.”

Cannon back with a bang courtesy of Bold Character

The Regional Origin Challenge was all about highlighting talented chasers who were yet to win in the city and Greg Cannon’s Bold Character was in that category before he stormed over the top of the field.

The New South Welshman has been a long-time greyhound man but after time away from the game, it was Bold Character that lured him back to the training ranks.

“I’ve got the shakes I’m that excited. I’ve had success her at Albion Park in the past, but it’s been a long time between drinks,” Cannon said.

“I was out of greyhound racing, and it was this dog that convinced me to give it another crack he didn’t owe me anything coming into tonight, but to win the Regional Origin Challenge on such a big night is above and beyond.

“I live about a 100 metres south of the Tweed border, as close we are to Queensland, I’m and through and through New South Welshman, it’s nice to kick things off for the team.”

The dog got the better of a driving finish surprising his trainer with his will to win and opening future doors.

“We’ve been to Albion Park before with him but only over the shorter distances I’ve never been convinced he’s an out and out 520 metre dog but he’s run over the top of them tonight,” Cannon said.

“We qualified for the race down at Casino where he’s well suited at the 484 metre start, he was coming here with back to back wins and I guess there’s no substitute for confidence.

“I think his best racing is in front of him so hopefully this win can be the gateway to a few more wins over the sprint trip in Brisbane.”