Golden Bear claims Ipswich Young Guns

By Pat McLeod

Colourful race caller John ‘Bunny’ Brasch perfectly summarized Golden Bear’s victory in Saturday night’s Ipswich Young Guns Final (520m).

“He has come back a real, real race dog,” Brasch declared after Adam Mcintosh’s latest kennel star outclassed a quality field.

Golden Bear had already shown his race ability before this Ipswich outing.

However, an enforced layoff after finishing a close second to Travis Elson’s Super Scrub in the Brisbane Young Guns in early May raised some questions.

Those questions were erased on Saturday night.

In fact, Mcintosh said the ‘holiday’ had been beneficial for the dog.

“He had a bit of an injury and the break allowed me to sort it out,” he said.

“You can never go into a race like this one with confidence, but we know he has ability.

“It was a nice win, but he's still a bit immature and still has things to learn.

"Racing at 37.5kg, he is a big, strong dog, possessing speed.

"He still has to learn how to harness his speed around corners.

"He's still racing four or five off the fence.

"He has to take bends a bit better.”

Golden Bear showed that strength throughout Saturday night’s performance.

Jumping from Box 7 the Zambora Brockie x Golden Joy chaser navigated a path around the field to find the lead after the first turn and then never looked troubled in his three-and-three-quarters-lengths win in 30.47secs.

Second was Duffman (Jedda Cutlack) with Zephyr (Gerald Corrigan) third.

Golden Bear is owned by the three-member Triple By Pass Syndicate, made up of Mcintosh and brothers Michael and Scott Gould.

The trio have been mates since they were at school and have owned several dogs together.

“Scott was the one responsible for getting me back into greyhounds after I had a break for a while,” Mcintosh said.

“He organised me to do a plastering job that ended up with me buying two greyhound pups.

“Over the years he has often bought a pup out of litters that I have bred.”

Mcintosh is now eyeing some other features for his talented youngster.

“We'll probably go back to Albion Park now for the Molly Campbell Silver Dollars (520m) (heats August 15, final August 22),” he said.

“I am also looking at heading south to a one-turn track.

"I may look at Maitland. I think it would suit him.”

Golden Bear’s impressive statistics are now 11 starts for seven wins and three placings for $79,730 in prize money.