Decision made on staying star Mambo Monelli's potential trip to Brisbane

By Jordan Gerrans

Staying star Mambo Monelli is set to miss the entire 2022 TAB Queensland Winter Greyhound Racing Carnival, with premier Western Australian trainer Steve Withers confirming the Group 1 winner will remain on the sidelines.

Withers is in the Sunshine State with a team of dogs – including leading Flying Amy Classic hopeful Panama Pepper – and is staying with Churchable dog man Jamie Hosking during the carnival.

Hosking revealed at the launch of the carnival that star dog Mambo Monelli – a winner of the 2022 Group 1 SKY Racing Galaxy Final earlier this year – could be a surprise starter throughout the Queensland winter.

Withers – who is widely known as the trainer of popular retired dog Tommy Shelby – considered a northern trip but he has since ruled it out.

Mambo Monelli suffered a ligament injury in his ankle in heats of the Perth-based Miata series in April and has not been seen at the races since.

While the ailment was enough to put him on the sidelines for now, Withers says the injury was only minor and the team were keen to take a cautious approach with the 19-time career winner.

“Mambo is still on the recovery scene at the moment,” Withers said on Tuesday morning at Albion Park.

“He is back in work but it is only gently, gently with him.

“We just got held up a few weeks and he is a little too special that we do not want to rush him at this stage.

“We will look to the Nationals later in the year, get him ready for that, and move back into 700 metre races.”

While Mambo Monelli does his best work up to 700 metres and beyond, the WA trainer was thinking the 2022 Brisbane Cup would have been an ideal building block race for his long-distance runner.

The Group 1 Brisbane Cup will be run for $525,000 this year over 520 metres. 

“Early on there was some thought to bringing him over if the timing worked, looking ahead to the 520 metre races for the Cup,” he said.

“We would not have had the time to get him ready for the 700 metre races, which is his ideal distance.”

Having won almost $250,000 in career stakes, the black and white dog is a beloved member of the Withers kennel.

“He is a pretty special dog, he is very quick,” he said.

“He breaks track records over the 300 metres and then does another lap.”

Following on from Thursday’s Flying Amy Final, Withers is likely to remain in the Sunshine State for the remainder of the carnival with Eagle Monelli and Panama Pepper.

Panama Pepper has drawn box seven in the Group 2 Final and while kennel mate Eagle Monelli contested a heat of the series last week, he did not qualify for the decider, and will face a fifth grade race on Thursday night from box two. 

“Eagle was a really good run the other night, he hit the lids before they opened and he jumped out on the wrong foot,” Withers said.

‘He usually has a lot of speed and the run after that was great.

“We will stay on after that and try our chances in the Cup, hopefully they can get through these runs on Thursday night without any worries.”

The Final of the Group 3 The Dashing Corsair will also be run at Albion Park on Thursday evening.