Merchant Navy an emerging Origin star

By Isaac Murphy

Merchant Navy went within a whisker of denying Jungle Deuce a spot in the Flying Amy Classic.

At just 23-months-old, he looks the epitome of an Emerging Origin Star, a race he’ll try to take out this Thursday night at Albion Park.

The event is restricted to dogs under 27 months, which has Merchant Navy well within the limits coming off a recent Thursday night win - and looks to be one of the main hopes.

“He’s shown me plenty to get excited about in the last couple of weeks, he was as brave as anything going down to Jungle Deuce by the barest of margins in the Flying Amy heats and then was able to come from behind and win last week which is something he hadn’t done yet,” Zammit said.

“I was happy to see he’s got a nice early race this week (four), he’s still a very young dog and tends to get a bit fired up when you leave him in the kennels for too long, but that shouldn’t be a problem this week.

“As much as that trait can hurt him in later races, it can also be a strength. He always knows when it’s race day and turns into a different animal when he knows he’s about to have a run.”

If the dog had drawn inside, he’d likely be an odds-on pop for the race, but first time in the pink rug is something very different.

“He hasn’t drawn the eight in his career until this week, I’d definitely prefer him off the inside but being out there with nothing outside him is a lot better than the five or the six - I’m keen to see how he handles it,” Zammit said.

“He’s sensible enough that he won’t crash left out of the boxes, he’s always run a nice straight line to the first turn and could end up in a pretty handy position.

“In recent weeks he’s gone from being an early speed chaser, to a dog who still gets out well but is really in for the fight on the way home.

"His closing sectional is always getting better.”

Zammit praised the concept of the Emerging Origin Stars, with a handful of handy pups sure to go on to bigger things.

“This race suits him to a tee, as competitive as he was in the Flying Amy, he was coming up against older more experienced dogs and now in the Emerging Origin Final he’s the one who’s got the runs on the board,” he said.

“In saying that I’m very wary of his competition; Out Of Champagne was brilliant winning in amazing time at Ipswich for the Burmans and then you have a dog like Call Me Rip for Tony Apap who’s won four of his last five races here.

“Then you have the other five wildcards, you’re no really sure what kind of a race they’re going to run, but it could certainly affect yours so we’ve got to be cautious.”

Zammit is looking to go one better in the race after he finished runner-up in the last running two years ago and believes he has the dog to do it.

“We’ve got good history in this race, I trained a dog for Darren Barbour Isn’t She Special who ran second in 2019, she was no superstar but went on to have a really solid career,” he said.

“Merchant Navy has probably won more races than that bitch did in her whole career, so if it’s a similar class race, he should find a way to be right there in the finish.

“The key for her was going in with good Albion Park form under her belt, something which he has plenty of.”

Zammit hopes Merchant Navy can get his toes wet before mixing it with the big boys in 2022.

“The race is a fantastic initiative giving dogs like him just a little taste of what competing in State of Origin would feel like, it creates a real pathway,” he said.

“There’s going to be more than one chaser coming out of this Emerging Origin race that’ll be challenging for selection in the Sprint next year.

“It’s a long way away for him but the way he’s started his career I couldn’t have asked for much more and who knows where he could be given another year’s racing.”