Monaghan makes a bold bid for Young Guns Crown

By Isaac Murphy

Ray and Mary Burman traditionally breed, own and train their own dogs.

So, it was a giant vote of confidence when they sent Zambora Brockie/Magic Hornet pups Magic Prince and Bold Hornet to Andrew Monaghan.

The Northern Rivers trainer has repaid the faith, both buzzing early in their careers as they look to tackle their biggest test yet in Saturday night’s Ipswich Young Guns.

Monaghan detailed both their chances.

“Magic Prince and Bold Hornet are both very strong dogs, but I’d say Magic Prince is the better race dog of the two,” he said.

“He’s got a lot of habits of a very good 500 metre dog, he jumps with them, musters pace, has some field sense and rattles home, not bad for a dog who turns two later this month.

“I’m getting to know the litter (Zambora Brockie/Magic Hornet) and I think they’ll all get over ground in a bit of time, but Magic Prince is the one I feel we’re a real chance of winning a nice age race like this with over the sprint.”

A winner of four of his first nine races, it didn’t take Magic Prince long and Monaghan believes the Ipswich 520 metres is the ideal trip for the chaser.

“After his initial few wins at Albion Park I thought I’d give him just a brief letup before the Grafton carnival, but to his detriment it kept getting pushed back and he was off the scene for over a month and it’s taken him three runs at Grafton to find his feet again,” he said.

“He hasn’t raced at Ipswich before, so I got him up there on Tuesday to give him a trial where I expected him to go well, and he did.

“He might only be nine starts in, but he’s definitely classed as a strong 500 metre dog, Ipswich will test him, but I think he’ll handle it better than some others.”

Heat winners are going to have to earn it with some deep fields in 2021.

Monaghan is hopeful Magic Prince brings his best box manners.

“It’s a tough heat to get a read on, Rob Cooke’s dog Cash View in the red is the class of the field but doesn’t go a yard early,” he said.

“There are some other powerful types inside us, Regal Rocky and Street Cry to name a couple, if we can beat them out and be sitting just off the pace, he’ll be a big chance.

“There’s no easy heats all four are top quality and I reckon you’ll have to be running around 30.5 seconds to win one, which this guy is capable of, but everything needs to go right.”

Bold Hornet was given a brief respite before returning at Grafton as well, where he’s carved out some eye-catching runs.

“I did the same thing with Bold Hornet, gave him a break and brought him back through Grafton where he’s been exceptional,” Monaghan said.

“He’s a dog with zero box speed and despite flopping out last on a couple of occasions has managed a win a couple of seconds in his three runs back, his effort last start had to be seen to believed.

“It’s a small sample size at Grafton so far, but his last section is up there with the quickest yet, once he starts putting the big bounds in, he just eats up the ground.”

Given his racing style, Monaghan was hopeful he’d come in with winning form, which could be crucial given his temperament.

“Confidence is paramount for him he’s probably just a little bit timid compared to his brother, so having that run of good results coming into the Ipswich Young Guns will serve him well,” he said.

“He’s a dog that doesn’t like to be crowded, so I’m hoping from box eight he just gets left alone to run his own race.

“The only thing that’s stopped him from winning all of those races at Grafton is the 450 metres, it’s going to be a different challenge around the circle at Ipswich, but he should certainly appreciate the extra distance.”

Bold Hornet runs into some serious competition in his heat.

Monaghan is hoping it inspires him to lift to their level.

“He meets a couple of potential stars in his heat, Impact for Kev Ellis has already made a Group 2 Final and Out of Champagne in the seven running 30.33 seconds on debut at Ipswich is other worldly,” he said.

“If Out of Champagne shows the early dash, she did on debut she could be an excellent trail into the race for him, we don’t have to beat her this week just make the final and hope for a better box.

“The worry is we just get too far back, but it’ll still be a good experience as we build him up towards the middle-distance when the time’s right.”