Queensland greyhound racing on the tip of trainers' tongues

By Jordan Gerrans

In greyhound training circles, Queensland is the hottest topic at the moment.

And, it has been that way for the last year or so.

That is the view of experienced NSW dog conditioner Dennis Barnes ahead of what is expected to be a bumper 2023 Queensland Winter Greyhound Racing Carnival.

An incredible $3.3m in prize money is up for grabs across the carnival, which will be headlined by the prestigious Brisbane Cup that will boast a staggering $1m in total prize money for the first time.

“It is unbelievable,” Barnes said.

“Queensland is the most talked-about state in Australia at the moment, I can tell you that with this prize money.”

Brisbane Greyhound Racing Club CEO Luke Gatehouse has high hopes for what is ahead between now and July 7.

“This is shaping to be the best winter carnival we have ever had, we have got interest from all over Australia,” Gatehouse said.

“We have got great racing, great prize money and we cater for every age group, every class and distance for greyhounds.

“It is going to be an outstanding carnival, with the highlights being the State of Origin for greyhounds and the Brisbane Cup.”

Before we get to the record prize money of the Brisbane Cup, heats for the Group 2 Flying Amy Classic will be contested at Albion Park on Thursday night.

Like the Brisbane Cup, the Flying Amy has been upgraded in stakes this year, being run for $225,000 in 2023, up from $150,000 last year.

This time last year, champion dog man Tony Brett declared that he expected the Flying Amy series of 2022 to be the strongest field ever assembled for the Group 2 event in the history of greyhound racing in Queensland.

It looks like it has only increased in quality again in 2023.

Premier Queensland greyhound race caller and prominent Brisbane form analyst John ‘Bunny’ Brasch earlier this week declared the heats are the ‘best ever’ assembled for the series.

Barnes has headed north to the Sunshine State with two runners for the Flying Amy Classic: Nangar Bubbles and Nangar Nellie.

Nangar Nellie has drawn the five in the third heat of the seven from Albion Park and puts her unblemished career record on the line.

The black bitch trialled at the track before her first race start in Queensland on Thursday and Barnes believes she will need to improve plenty from her trial performance.

“I am very happy with her and she is a real little trier,” he said.

“She can be in front or come from behind, she is a real chaser.

“I thought she trialled ordinary last week – she went 30.29 seconds at her first look – obviously she will need to come down on that time.

“She should improve on that look, I hope so.”

Nangar Nellie is unbeaten in four career efforts, with the last of the quartet coming in the feature Bill and Peg Miller Memorial at Dubbo in late May.

The Cudal-based Barnes kennel have set up camp on the Darling Downs for their stays in Queensland during the winter carnival.

They have long been supporters of the northern feature period of the year.

“It is most probably one of the reasons we have come up, the increased prize money, but we have been coming up for the last few years with our younger dogs,” Barnes said.

“It gives them more experience.

“We go to Grafton normally every year to race the dogs at their carnival and then come up here and race them while we are there.

“Hopefully they can do all right through it all.”

Nangar Bubbles has been handed the red rug in the opening heat of the series on Thursday.

The blue bitch does not have as an impressive record as her kennel mate but has more racing experience on her side.

She is also a last-start winner at Dubbo, which came on the same program as Nangar Nellie’s latest triumph.

“She has drawn well and she just needs to get back to her form where she ran 29.37 seconds at Dubbo,” the trainer said.

“She has had a bit of a virus but she has not come back as quick.

“We trialled her there last week with Nellie. Hopefully we have overcome all that and she can bounce back to her best on Thursday.”

The kennel also have Nangar Rocket in the heats of the Group 3 Dashing Corsair, which will be held on Wednesday evening at Brisbane Greyhound Racing Club.

Nangar Rocket won well over the staying trip of 710 metres in a free for all race last Thursday evening and Barnes is eager to see the 12-time career winner proceed through the carnival.

“He went very well last week in his first look at the track,” he said.

“I was very pleased with him and everything has gone well during the week since.

“We will see how he progresses through the heats and maybe into the Final, I would like to get him into a big Cup race later in the carnival.”