Patterson is Doing Fine with early distance call for young chaser

By Pat McLeod

Northern NSW trainer Mick Patterson has a well-earned reputation as an astute judge of greyhounds.

So, when he gives guarded praise of Doing Fine, the pick of his current Superior Panama and What About It litter, it pays to take notice.

Patterson predicts the youngster will acquit himself well in the fifth grade Final over 600 metres at Albion Park on Thursday night.

“I feel that if he (Doing Fine) gets a clear go on the rail, it will take a very good dog to hold him out,” Patterson says with measured confidence.

But, it is only when Patterson trails off, and his mind hits ‘fast forward’ that you get a clearer picture of what lies ahead.

“I have no doubt that the day I put him up to 700 metres you will see something,” Patterson says with genuine conviction.

Most who saw Doing Fine’s performance in last week’s 600 metres heats at 'The Creek', would nod in agreement.

Patterson’s chaser overcame a far-from-clear run from the seven box, to come from last and weave his way through the field before unleashing a late surge to finish in second place, a head short of Tom Tzouvelis’ Dixie Gambles.

“He is a dog that, if he gets a clear run, he just keeps winding up,” Patterson said. 

“He just keeps going faster until the end. I'm not saying that he is a slow beginner, but he just gets continually faster during the run.”

Patterson said he had decided to ‘go early’ with Doing Fine’s elevation up to middle-distance racing when he put him over 600 metres at Albion Park for the dog’s 11^th start on January 29.

He won by seven-and-half lengths in 34.94 seconds. 

“I don't normally put my dogs up in distance that early, but he was getting knocked around a little bit in sprint races,” Patterson explains.

“I would have liked to have kept him back for a while longer for him to win a couple of 500 metre races. He is not a good box dog, but has always been an extremely strong dog.

“So, we put him up in distance, and the result didn't surprise me. I know what he can do. I just knew that he would run it.

“From there I thought we would look for a heat and Final. And, that is where we are now. For this Final, there is certainly a lot of pace inside of him, but he loves the rail and so if he can get to the rail early and keep in touch with them, we will see.

“But, there are some good dogs in this race.”

Looking ahead, Patterson is excited about the dog’s potential over 700 metres for two reasons – his desire to chase and his breeding.

“I am really keen to see him over more distance,” Patterson said.

“He just loves to chase, there is no doubt about that. You get some dogs that have plenty of pace, but not a big ticker. This dog is all ticker. He has the chase in him. He wants to win.

“His mother, What About It, ran second in a Group 1 race (the 2020 Gold Cup Final over 710 metres at Albion Park) to True Detective and one more bounce and she wins it.

“I believe she could have been super."

In what should be a hotly contested Final on Thursday night, trainer-of-the-moment Tom Tzouvelis has three starters – Pursuer (box one), Scarlatti (seven) and Dixie Gambles (eight).

In early betting Pursuer is a $3.40 favourite, with Col Graham’s Seven Sinners on $3.60 and Doing Fine at $5.