Lucy going "good as ever" but trainer is cautious

By Alex Nolan

Trainer Mitch Northfield says despite Kooringa Lucy’s age and diminutive stature, she is going as “good as ever” ahead of Thursday’s Group 1 Gold Bullion Final at Albion Park.

Kooringa Lucy weighs in at about 25 kilograms and turns four later this month, making her both the smallest and oldest contestant in Queensland’s summer show-piece over 520 metres.

But, it’s hard to argue there would be a more deserving winner of the $200,000 first prize.

The daughter of Fernando Bale lines up for her 80^th start and eighth Group final in the Bullion, having already banked over $229,000 in earnings for Northfield and wife Cheryl.

She earned an express pass to the final by winning her first Group race in last month’s Golden Ticket and will now line up from box one, where she boasts seven wins from eight attempts.

“Luke (Gatehouse) did a good job getting that box one for me,” Northfield joked.

The draw, coupled with her Albion Park record of 16 wins from 34 starts has seen her odds wound in from $12 to $7.50 with TAB.

However, Northfield was wary of talking up his girl’s chances.   

“The thing is all of the others are racing at their peak and she’s four soon,” he said.  

“She is only little compared to those other dogs … I’m not saying she isn’t going as well but she is toward the back end of her career.

“I think we’re going to need some luck.”

Kooringa Lucy has contested races at eight different tracks over 11 distances throughout her distinguished career, making group finals at Albion Park, Townsville, Casino, Richmond and Wentworth Park along the way, including last year's Gold Bullion, where she finished fourth behind Shima Shine. 

She was a dominant force over 600 metres at Albion Park throughout 2021, winning six from nine over the middle distance, many of which came while in the care of Michael and Selena Zammit kennel.

Northfield says he’s unsure whether Kooringa Lucy has an advantage over her rivals due to bypassing last week’s heats.

“She just handles the racing,” he said.

“Every time she races she bounces right back the next morning, it just comes naturally.

“But we’ve since trialled over 400 metres at Casino and she went as good as she ever has.

“It’s hard to tell whether the week off will be beneficial but I suppose it’s better than going around in the heats and getting run out of it.”  

Nevertheless, Northfield is looking forward to making the three hour journey to Albion Park for the Golden Greys Summer Carnival's grand finale. 

"They’ve done a mighty job with the carnival and the racing up there," he said.

"You’ve got to have a better dog to go to Albion Park, but that’s what we’ve been doing and we've enjoyed it." 

Meanwhile, fastest qualifier Zipping Kyrgios and Albion Park track specialist Jungle Deuce are locked in a battle for favouritism at $3.20.

Zipping Kyrgios won his heat in 29.68 seconds last week and will jump from box four in the Final, where he’ll be out to taste Group 1 success for the first time.

Jungle Deuce is now undefeated in six starts at Albion Park after winning his heat last week, which came on the back of his maiden Group 1 victory in the Paws Of Thunder at Wentworth Park.