Brittons’ northern exposure sets them for Group 1 payout

By Pat McLeod

The decision by Victoria’s ‘Team Britton’ to invest heavily in Queensland greyhound racing could have its first major payout at Albion Park’s marquee meeting on Thursday night.

Jeff Britton has runners in both Group 1 features – Mepunga Smokey in the Brisbane Cup (520m) and Pass Mark in the Queensland Cup (710m).

Frequent visitors to Brisbane’s premier races, Jeff and brother Rob Britton made the decision to stake a claim in South East Queensland after last year’s Queensland Winter Greyhound Racing Carnival, with Rob’s son Tim and Martina Kirillidis heading up the satellite kennel in November.

“It has helped to have the full-time kennel up here,” Jeff Britton said after jetting into Brisbane on Tuesday.

“Last year we came up here for this carnival and we stayed at the (Churchable) property. We liked the weather. Winter time here is a good time for the dogs.

“They can come up and get a bit of sunshine instead of the bleak weather back home.

“While the carnival is on it certainly makes things a lot easier for us, to have the dogs so close to the track.

“Almost all the dogs settle in here very well.”

Although neither of Britton’s Thursday night hopes lead the betting markets, he considers Mepunga Smokey’s $15 early price as ‘great value’.

“This dog has a lot of ability and deserves to be there on Thursday night,” he said.

“At 15-1, if somebody wanted to have a bet on him, I think he is great value, with a genuine chance of winning the race.

“The only thing going against him is probably the first corner. He has a bit of an arc going around the corner and is not your mad crasher (to the rail) around a corner.

“He hasn't really been starting all that well here in Brisbane and I am not sure whether that is just because of the wide draws (boxes eight and seven in his two starts at Albion Park).

“I'm hoping that in this race, drawing the four, he is a little bit closer to the fence and that might bring him out a little bit better.

“I think four suits him if he can get a clear run, but that will not be easy.

“Of course, he would also need to be left alone to win the race. He needs to get a clear run.

“I was happy with the (winning) run in the heat. The time, 29.84, compares well with the other races with only one other (Excavation) that jumped right out of the ground.”

Britton said there are genuine chances jumping from almost every box in the $650,000-to-the-winner Brisbane Cup.

“It is a great field,” he said.

“When you see Jason Thompson and Tony Brett dogs dominate the field (five runners between them), it just makes it harder again.

“Those two trainers have had experience with great dogs and they have won a lot of feature races, so they will be hard to beat.

“So, the dangers are throughout this field. There are dogs that might not have run great times last week, dogs like Explicit, but that have had had some freakish runs in Victoria.

“It is just a very hard race overall.”

Britton is a fan of the Queensland Winter Carnival.

“I like it. Great to go racing, but to also have a holiday,” he said

However, there will be no holiday this time around.

After Thursday night he will be driving to Sydney for Saturday night’s Group 1 Ladbrokes Peter Mosman Opal Final (520m) at Wentworth Park, where he will campaign Tully Luna.