By Alex Nolan
A year spent planting the seeds to replenish his racing stock appears close to bearing fruit for Jeff Crawford.
The Buccan trainer and wife Jane have a handful of pups debuting this week, including three in Wednesday’s Listed Dave Brett Memorial Maiden heats over 520 metres at Albion Park.
Crawford had predicted a quiet racing year but a busy one in the breeding kennel and rearing paddocks when he last spoke to Racing Queensland in January.
His prediction has been spot on, with the kennel sending around 275 runners for 44 winners, as opposed to 519 starts for 87 wins in 2021.
But, the tide is starting to turn, with two runners from a litter by Fabregas out of Frosty Fantasy, named Cool Rumours and Cool Down, stepping out for solid debuts at Ipswich on Tuesday.
Both overcame sluggish starts and were doing their best work late to finish third in races one and two on the program, with Cool Down having little luck early.
The kennel’s Dave Brett aspirants include two pups by Superior Panama from Nanza Gunn, racing as Titanium Gunn and Mighty Gunn, and another by Out Of Range from the Crawfords' good producer Hazy Jane, named Morse Code.
The ‘Gunns’ are raced by retired greyhound trainer and prominent owner Jayson Gunning, who has a friendship with Crawford dating back more than a decade.
The Western Australian-based Gunning – who also has Graceful Gunn contesting the series for trainer Terry Medcalf – also raced multiple stakes-winning thoroughbred Samizdat.
But, for Crawford, the timing couldn’t be better to welcome a new crop of racing dogs to the track, following the recent retirement of multiple kennel stalwarts, including 2020 Flying Amy Classic winner, Kiss And Spin.
“I had hoped the older dogs like Kiss And Cut, Kiss And Spin, Black Mirage and Perfect Freeze could all still be going now, but they have finished up,” Crawford told Racing Queensland.
“Between new dogs starting and the old dogs, there has been a gap with no money coming in.”
Crawford has had an eye on the Dave Brett Memorial Maiden series for the past two months, with the Superior Panama and Out Of Range litters both catching his eye early.
Morse Code recorded some slick first sections in his trials but must overcome box seven in the series opener.
Titanium Gunn (heat two – box two) and Mighty Gunn (heat three – box one) have drawn more favourably in their respective heats.
“The Superior Panama litter broke in sensationally, but the breed isn’t known for being fast early or being great in a field and should improve with time,” Crawford said.
“You’ve got to start somewhere but as we’ve seen before, it could be a hot series.”