Bogie Hurricane storms into Ipswich carnival with classic ‘Creek’ victory

By Pat McLeod

Classic underdog Bogie Hurricane reminded all of his giant-killing potential with a tenacious win over 600 metres at Albion Park on Thursday night.

The proven campaigner held off the renowned blinding finish of precocious distance youngster Valpolicella at ‘The Creek’, in a perfect lead-up to an assault on the Ipswich carnival next week.

Over the next two weeks the Ipswich club will take on the Thursday night spotlight for its Cup carnival.

Bogie Hurricane’s trainer Ryan Ayre confirmed he will be targeting his charge at the $30,000-to-the-winner Past Members Trophy over 630 metres at Ipswich.

The heats of the series are on October 26 before the Final on November 2.

“He loves Ipswich and I believe the 630 metres there is his perfect distance,” Ayre explained.

Bogie Hurricane's Thursday night win came in 35.06 seconds, just 0.03-of-a-length ahead of Valpolicella (trained by Tony Zammit) and Blazing Smoke (Renald Attard).

“The Ipswich race will be a hot one with dogs such as (Group 1 winner) Palawa King (Jack Smith) around," Ayre said. 

“We will go there and just see how we will go.

“He (Bogie Hurricane) is a very fast dog. He has trialled 24.80 seconds at Ipswich over the 431 metres not that long ago."

Ayre says he has definitely got the pace to mix it with any dog.

“From a good alley I give him a chance," Ayre said. 

“Obviously there will be some very good dogs around such as Palawa King, Valpolicella, and possibly Icy Eyes (Selena Zammit) and Blue Hornet (Ray Burman).

“There are a lot of good dogs around over that distance. It will be a hot field. But, like my dog, they all have their chinks and they can all be beaten.

“Speed is not an issue for Bogie Hurricane, it is just his box manners. But, even that isn’t too concerning because he has such great race sense.”

The Keybow and Bogie Lilly chaser has always been extremely consistent.

He has not missed a placing in his last 13 starts.

Overall he has 14 wins and 20 placings from 41 starts for $113,670 in prize money.

Another trainer with his eyes towards Ipswich is Yandina’s Travis Elson.

Elson had success on Thursday night at Albion Park with youngster Danger Zone, who moved his record to two wins from four starts with victory in a novice race over 520 metres.

He is from Elson’s very promising Fernando Bale and Nan's Magic litter.

“I bred the mother and we now have a litter of 11 that are all nice pups,” Elson said.

“He (Danger Zone) is still very young, only 19 months old.

“I thought that if he ran a place tonight he would be doing alright.”

Elson’s mind isn’t far removed from Ipswich, with kennel star, Bear's Bullet, debuting there in an Ipswich Cup Prelude over 520 metres on Saturday night.

The Group race campaigner trialled very well at Ipswich on Monday ahead of her Ipswich Cup campaign.

“She had her first look at Ipswich on Monday with a box-to-box and she went super,” Elson said. 

“She railed beautifully around that first corner. A lot of dogs do go off on that corner, but she went around it beautifully.

“This will be the test for her Saturday night as far as the Cup goes. It is as good as a Cup heat field.”

Another exciting youngster, Warren Nicholls’ Inconspicuous, continued his rise with a solid win in a fifth grade race over 520 metres at Albion Park on Thursday night.

The Orson Allen and Common Ground chaser was returning after a fall at the same track on October 5 and accounted for Greg Brennan’s Spot On Lad by one-and-a-quarter-lengths with Away Game (Angela Brown) third, in 30.19 seconds. 

“You will always have concerns after a fall, but he trialled very well in between,” Nicholls said. 

“He is a very easy-going dog, a pretty handy pup who knows where the line is. At the moment I just can't get him to settle down in the boxes.

“He is moving his head around and missing it a little bit, but when he does muster, he musters quickly.”

On Thursday night the Brisbane Greyhound Racing Club toasted Selena and Mick Zammit and their dog Jay Is Jay’s Million Dollar Chase victory.

“We are all humbled. This is a dream,” Mick Zammit told his fellow-trainers.