Farmor Relief ready for Jeffery Jones Celebration of Life Trophy

By Neil Archer

Trainer Cecil Druery is puzzled by Farmor Relief's uncharacteristic poor effort up the straight on Wednesday but thinks his chaser can still be a serious threat in Sunday's Jeffery Jones Celebration Of Life Trophy at Capalaba.

Farmor Relief ran a terrific second to the in-form I'm Old School in last Sunday's Trophy heat, leading until collared late by the winner.

The Tom Tzouvelis-trained I'm Old School clocked 19.81 seconds - the fastest of the three heats - while the Evelyn Harris-trained Darby Display won his heat in 20.02 seconds and another Tzouvelis-trained runner, Fancy Gift, clocked 20.06 seconds in her heat.

I'm Old School subsequently scored a narrow win at Albion Park on Thursday night, but Farmor Relief was disappointing when he ran again at Capalaba on Wednesday, finishing a well-beaten fourth as the $2.10 favourite behind Tweed Force.

"I was very disappointed with him on Wednesday," Druery said. 

"He races well up the straight but just wasn't himself on Wednesday.

"Maybe he just hadn't backed up from his run on Sunday - I just don't know - but I'm hoping he's just put in that one bad one and will bounce back to his best form in Sunday's Final.

"And, with the right run, I think he's capable of running a big race and hopefully can turn the tables on I'm Old School this time around."

Druery has really turned Farmor Relief's form around since the Jiminy Reno and Arabella Emjay dog joined his kennel last year.

A 12 start maiden before joining Druery, Farmor Relief has now won three races - all at Capalaba - from his eight starts for his new trainer.

He won first-up for Druery at Capalaba on December 21 after being heavily backed at big odds.

He won again up the straight at his next start a week later, then again at the same track on January 10.  

"He had a few things I had to work on when he arrived and I brought him along slowly. He's certainly been going very well up the straight in the past few months," Druery said. 

Sunday will mark the fifth running of the Jeffery Jones Celebration Of Life Trophy, a race that honours the life of Jeffery Jones, the well-respected former trainer and great greyhound racing man who passed away in 2018.

Jones was also a founding member and past president of the QGBOTA and was heavily involved with the Capalaba club for many years.

Jones, of course, is the inspiration behind the naming of Jay Is Jay, the current Queensland star trained by his daughter Selena Zammit and owned by his wife Lillian.

Jones owned and trained Jay Is Jay's mother Kealoah.

Previous Jeffery Jones Trophy winners:

2023 - Journalist (trained by Greg Stella) 19.57 seconds

2021 - Easy Does It (trained by Tony Apap) 20.14 seconds

2020 - She's Whistling (trained by Garry Gilbert) 19.72 seconds

2019 - Call Me Ugo (trained by Brett Hazelgrove) 19.77 seconds