Apap’s patience rewarded as Very Handy’s talent emerges

By Pat McLeod

The almost-always affable Tony Apap remembers being close to the end of his tether.

The focus of his ‘bad day’ was his young dog Very Handy, who was proving to be a nightmare in the boxes.

“Every time I would put him in the starting box he would go berserk,” Apap recalls, with a shudder in his voice.

“He would play up, try to turn around. Just impossible.  I took him to Capalaba, which can be the answer. But, not for him.

“I recall the starter saying to me: ‘Tony, I think your dog has turned over.’ I replied: ‘I am sure he has’. He had turned around, turned back again, and still ran second.

“I remember driving home from Capalaba that day and thinking: ‘This dog will do my head in’.

“I was about to ring the owner and tell him that I was going to give up on the dog.”

But, Apap didn’t make the call.

A vivid memory stopped him.

“What kept coming back to me was the memory of when I first slipped him at Ipswich,” Apap explains.

“He was the fastest dog that I have ever slipped first go there. The good ones will break 17 seconds there. A 16.8 second run is a really good run.

“He went 16.56 seconds first slip and I thought: ‘Wow, what have I got here’. That is what kept coming back to me and I thought that he was too good a dog not to keep trying something.”

The master trainer knew there was a ‘mental issue’.

Maybe the dog was claustrophobic.

He patiently worked on a remedy to that and eventually it worked.

In fact, it worked very well. At this Thursday night’s QGOLD feature night at Albion Park, Very Handy is the early hot favourite in the QGOLD Emerging Sprinters Final over 520 metres. 

The Bernardo and Tahlia's Way youngster has collected six wins and five placings from just 12 starts and is unbeaten in his last four outings, all on Thursday night at 'Headquarters'.

This Thursday night will be a further indicator of the dog’s ability, however Apap believes an ordinary run of box draws has been the greatest impediment to a true read on the chaser’s ability.

In those 12 starts to date he is yet to draw inside box four.

“Very Handy is overdue for an inside box,” Apap said.  

“He is going to be a handy dog, but I would like to see him draw a good box for a change. This race will be just another step, but he has box six and we won't really find out how good the dog is from bad boxes.

“If he draws a decent box, then we might find out. But, he is in there on Thursday night, so we'll see how he goes. I just hope he jumps well.”

There will be nine QGOLD feature Finals on Thursday night, for Queensland-bred dogs only, and almost $250,000 on offer in prize money.

The night is the next exciting instalment in 2023 Queensland Golden Greys Summer Racing Carnival. 

There are numerous highlights including the QGOLD Summer Sprint Final over 520 metres, which includes headliners such as Bear’s Bullet, Get Carter and Springtime Jet.

Selena Zammit’s exciting young distance dog Icy Eyes will look to extend her winning return to Albion Park to three in the QGOLD Summer Distance Final over 710 metres.

The QGOLD Summer Chase Final over 600 metres will showcase the strength in local middle distance chasers.

Apap’s Baccarat Boy will exit from box eight in this race.

“He (Baccarat Boy) will give everything he has got,” Apap said.

“He is not a dog that is riddled with ability, but definitely gives his all.”