Brydon kennel dreaming of maiden Group title at Maitland

By Jordan Gerrans

Christopher Brydon is grinning from ear to ear to have a dog in a Group Final for the first time in his training career and he insists kennel star Coonamble Kid is not just making up the numbers on Friday night in Maitland.

While Brydon is only new to the higher level of racing, he is confident Coonamble Kid is a worthy contender for the Group 2 Maitland Gold Cup Final.

The Brydon kennel and family are relative newcomers to the Sunshine State greyhound ranks, moving up in the back end of 2021.

They moved north of the border with aims of establishing themselves as professional greyhound trainers after only preparing a team as a hobby in NSW.

They are quickly making inroads as a team on the rise in Queensland and can further cement that with a maiden Group triumph on Friday.

Brydon has prepared 13 winners from his last 50 starters on race day.

The Brydons lived in the Hunter Valley region of NSW for around three years before they moved north to Queensland.

As Coonamble Kid prefers a one turn track, Brydon always had the Maitland Gold Cup series in the back of his mind when the dog was regularly winning races at Albion Park, Capalaba and Ipswich.

“That type of track suits him as he is not a strong 500 metre dog and the 450 metres on a one turn track is right up his alley,” the trainer said of Maitland. 

“He is suited to the one turn tracks and we would love it if there was one up here for him

“That is why we thought we would go down and trial him and give him a look.

“We thought we would have a crack if he went well enough and luckily he did.

“He has done well to make the Final.”

It is more than a 10 hour drive to get from the Brydon kennel at Churchable to Maitland and the trainer and his kennel star have seen plenty of the road in recent weeks.

They headed south to trial before the heats, went down for the heats last Friday before returning again this week for the Final, which is raced for $40,000 to the winner.

It was a gamble to drive all that way to trial for Brydon but it has most certainly paid off.

The son of My Redeemer was the second fastest qualifier from the four heats last Friday, with only Vamoose – who Coonamble Kid ran second behind – posting a faster time in 24.96 seconds.

“I was stoked just to qualify – it is good to be in a good race – but I was really happy with the run in the heat,” Brydon said.

“I was not too happy with the draw – five was not ideal – but he got a clear run and was able to just miss out on winning the race.

“He did enough to qualify for the Final, which is good.

“He trialled at the track before the race and he went well enough to warrant us to go back and have a go at it.

“He improved a little bit from the trial to the heat and hopefully he can do the same on Friday.”

Coonamble Kid has been a surprise packet for the kennel, winning 18 of his 42 career starts, and he has quickly developed a big following in two states of Australia.

“We have got a big support crew at home that follow the dog with lots of my friends from Coonamble,” he said.

“Every time he wins my phone goes crazy with people ringing up telling me they backed him or to congratulate me.

“We are rapt with the way he is going and he has turned out to be a good little dog for us.”

The trainer is delighted with the draw for Friday night’s Final, with Coonamble Kid winning on five occasions from his 11 attempts with the pink rug on his back, as well as three minor placings. 

With the fastest qualifier and heat winner Vamoose drawn in the one alley, Brydon thinks it has all worked out perfectly for his chaser.

He is happy to go into the Final flying under the radar compared to other dogs in the field that have posted faster times earlier in their careers.

“I could not be happier, I was hoping for one or eight before the race as he has a good record from out there,” Brydon said.

“It really suits him – the eight – as he is not fast out of the boxes but once he steps he can muster and get moving quite quickly.

“That is just what he needs, clear air for the first 30 metres and he should be able to get that from the eight while staying wide.

“He should get every chance from out there.

“He is definitely a good chance because of where he is drawn and I think he might be a little underestimated in the race as well because he has not put the quick times on other tracks like other dogs in the Final have.

“I think people are forgetting that he is the second fasted qualifier from last week, with the only dog going faster than him was the one that beat him in the heat.”

The Brydon team also have kennel mate High Times set to feature at Maitland on Friday.

High Times won a mixed fourth and fifth grade race last Friday at Maitland and will jump from box six in a fifth grade event this week.

Reflecting on his greyhounds recent run of strong form, Brydon says he has a better quality of dog in his kennel these days as he continues to establish himself in the Sunshine State.

The Brydon team will have two starters on Wednesday afternoon at Albion Park, Top Gun and Johnny Fernando.