The best dog Ellis ever trained was Velocity Bettina – another from the Williams camp - and while Impact is nearing her feats, he is not quite there yet, the veteran trainer says.
Williams, who owns a cleaning business in Hervey Bay on top of his greyhound interests, deserves every success and recognition he receives, Ellis thinks, such is his dedication to the sport of greyhound racing.
Impact, is unbeaten in his last six trips to the races – three of which came at Capalaba – and Ellis thinks maturity is behind his recent run of sparkling form.
Ellis likened him to an adolescent youngster in the early stages of his racing career, but in recent weeks, a different Impact – a more mature dog – has presented himself.
According to the experienced industry participant, there is nothing a trainer can do to help their greyhounds along in the maturity process, you just need to grin, bear it and hope for the best.
“He has always had the ability but he is just very immature or silly, he is like a teenage kid,” Ellis said.
“I have noticed the last month and a half, he has really settled down and is doing a lot more things correctly in his races.
“I hope he keeps just getting better and better because he has always been able to gallop.
“From the first time I started training him, he was a wild animal in his early days, he was over the top and just wasn’t thinking – but he has really switched on recently.”
Impact comes from box seven in Sunday’s Final, having won his heat by five lengths from the five alley last week.
Ellis was over the moon with the way Impact ran in the heat and thinks the way his dog finishes over 366 metres is his best attribute down the straight track, hitting the line strong over the concluding stages.
In a boost for the club, the Capalaba Cup has been lifted to Group 3 status, with $37,500 in prize money on the line in October, with $25,000 to the winner.
“It is enormous,” Ellis said.
“A couple of years ago if you told me they were racing for $25,000 the winner at Capalaba, I would have told you that you had rocks in your head.
“The prizemoney in Queensland now is enormous.
“It is a Group race now, that is what you aim for and shoot for, it would be icing on the cake.
“The club at Capalaba, they are run by excellent people, the committee, who want to grow the sport of greyhounds.”
Magical Trav, trained by Terrence Priest at Park Ridge, is expected to be one of Impact’s main rivals on Sunday at Capalaba, boasting 22 triumphs from just 32 starts in his young career.
Columbian King scored a brilliant victory in the most recent running of the Capalaba Cup, but he has failed to qualify for the Final for this edition of the race, running fourth in his heat last week.
October’s running of the Capalaba Cup will be the second edition of the race in 2021, claimed in March by track specialist Columbian King – with the race shifted to October going forward as the club usually battles flooding around March every year.