Valhalla proves belief justified with Capalaba Young Guns win

By Pat McLeod

Young Brisbane trainer Jedda Cutlack believed in her home-bred dog Valhalla and that belief materialized into a Capalaba Young Guns Final win on Sunday.

Bred by kennel maestro Tom Tzouvelis, the Orson Allen - Femme Folle chaser jumped well and stayed clear of some mid-race trouble before scoring by three-and-a-quarter-lengths in 19.51 seconds ahead of Earth Shaker (trained by Mick Johnston) and Coonamble Kid (Chris Brydon).

His starting price may have been $11, but Cutlack wasn’t surprised by the result.

“The win did not surprise me. It was a good field, but I thought if he had space he would probably get there and that is exactly what happened,” she said.

“I believe the dog won on its merits. I must admit, I did breathe a little easier when I saw the trouble behind him, but when I saw that he had the space that he did I did not think they would go better than what he did.

“But, with nobody in his way I don't think any of them would have caught him. I think he would have won anyway.”

The victory has certainly given some vindication to the belief the trainer has in the dog, whose record is now two wins and five placings from 12 starts.

“This race, it was nice to win for a few reasons, but especially because he has had a few starts and hasn't won many,” Cutlack said. “And he is a good dog. I have always thought that he was a good dog. But, his racing hasn't reflected that so far.

“We came to Capalaba because we thought he was good enough to win it.

“You only get one Thursday night novice and we have been trying for that. He trialed here well as a young dog before starting to race.

“You can try forever for a Thursday win, but the prize money for this was pretty good.

“We have found that Capalaba can definitely help young dogs a lot with confidence and box manners. He is not traditionally quick early, even if he does jump well, which he doesn't usually, so there were other benefits to coming here.

“But, the main reason we came here was because we thought he could win.”

Cutlack said the plan now would be to move Valhalla up in distance to 600 metres. 

“Long term, he will definitely step up in distance,” she said. “Even in his 500 metre runs he comes home very strongly.

“So, we will probably just work him back up now. Now that we don't have that novice to hunt for there is nothing holding him back from stepping up in distance.

“So that will be the aim going forward.” 

Cutlack celebrated a double at Capalaba on Sunday with Showpiece ($3.90) winning the race before the Young Guns.