Nothing inconspicuous about Queensland MDC hopeful

By Jordan Gerrans

The extravagant fishing trip that Anthony Azzopardi and Warren Nicholls will go on if they are crowned the 2024 Million Dollar Chase champions will be anything but inconspicuous.

The Victorian trainer (Azzopardi) and Queensland owner and breeder (Nicholls) have shot into MDC calculations on the back of a stunning semi-final victory.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the Sunshine State-bred Inconspicuous is on the third line of betting at $5 in Friday’s feature event from Wentworth Park.

Inconspicuous is a son of Nicholls’ former race bitch Common Ground and did all his early racing in Queensland before recently transferring to Azzopardi’s kennel in search of a mental refresh.

The plan has worked absolute wonders as the dog has taken his game to another stratosphere under the watch of the multiple Group 1-winning mentor.

“He has definitely gone to another level, competing really good and I couldn’t be happier,” the Churchable-based Nicholls said.

“Anthony is an exceptional trainer and does very well with his dogs, there is certain blokes who can get a dog to the elite level and he is one of those.

“The dog needed a change of scenery to get himself going again and he has found it back again and found more. They have done a great job, unbelievable really.”

Azzopardi and Nicholls have become close mates in recent years on the back of their association with a few dogs.

It started almost four years ago when the Queensland conditioner sent a galloper named How Not Too south.

When Nicholls’ name was up in lights in recent years through the deeds of the popular Days Of Thunder, the travelling trainer would often call Azzopardi’s kennel home when he was chasing big race honours in the southern states.

Now, they are on the verge of tasting MDC success together as a team. 

“The entire family opened their doors to me and I stayed there for five weeks,” the Queensland dog man said. 

“Nothing was a problem for him to accommodate to us.

“I probably have done three or four trips since when I have stayed with him.

“I was staying for two to five weeks at a time and since then we have gone fishing together once a year to places like Darwin.

“We have become real good mates.”

Just as it was for the Zammit clan last year from Queensland in winning the MDC with former champion Jay Is Jay, a race of this nature can be life-changing.

The prize money for the event is obviously significant but the status of the race and the doors it may open are also something on Nicholls’ mind.

“This could change a lot of things for us,” he said of the prize money on offer.

The last few months have been a meteoric rise for Inconspicuous.

Earlier this year he was racing in events like the Bundaberg Cup.

While the Cup in the ‘Rum City’ is a prestigious regional race in Queensland, Nicholls would not have been dreaming of a MDC berth when he finished sixth in the Final in early March. 

As the Rowsley-based Azzopardi notes, the team had slightly less lofty ambitions when it was decided that the dog was coming south.

Nicholls had floated to his close mate that Inconspicuous was coming to his kennel a few times in his career but once he finally felt the dog needed a change of scenery, the decision was eventually made.

“Warren sent the dog down pretty early and I’ll be honest, the initial plan was the Adelaide Cup,” Azzopardi said.

“It has always looked good for the dog because he has that early pace.

“The dog just kept getting better and better so I told Warren he was too good for the Adelaide Cup so we will race for a $1 million instead of $100,000.

“The dog went super in the semi-final; he did what I expected him to do and he came out running. If he gets it right, he is a pretty smart animal.”

Inconspicuous started his MDC journey through the Bulli Regional Final where he finished second.

He then scored in a semi-final in 29.26 seconds.

Azzopardi was hoping for an inside draw for the Final and he would have been smiling when he was handed the three alley.

“It is a great feeling and it has not sunk in yet,” Azzopardi said.

“We just need to make sure this dog is 100 per cent.”

Inconspicuous’ rise to prominence comes on the back of Nicholls’ former star chaser Days Of Thunder’s dazzling career.

The former star dog was known as the ‘White Wonder’ as she finished like a freight train in her races from back in the field.

The now-retired Days Of Thunder saluted in the Group 3 Origin Distance race in 2022, won a Chairman’s Cup and the Super Stayers Invitational Final at Albion Park as well as placing in a Group 1 Queensland Cup.

A humble Nicholls notes that his kennel was regularly competing in low-level Sunday racing in Queensland just a few years back so they are enjoying the ride of Group-level events on a regular basis in recent years.

The kennel have always bred and raced their own chasers which makes Inconspicuous all that more important to the Nicholls clan.  

Inconspicuous’ mother Common Ground was a very good sprinter for Nicholls, but he was forced to retire her after just 31 starts (15 wins) because of a recurring toe injury.

The popular member of the local industry always had hopes Inconspicuous would make the top grade but he never dreamed of the dizzying heights of the MDC.

“I thought he could get to a decent level early on but we are not talking about the level he is at now,” Nicholls said.

“I always thought there was a good race or two in him and he was competitive in races like the Bundy Cup and others.

“I did not think he was a Million Dollar Chase dog but I thought he could win a country Cup or an Adelaide Cup, something like that.

“Anthony quickly changed those plans when he saw the dog race a few times. It is unreal to be in a race like this and so exciting to be racing at this level.”

Nicholls and his family travel to Sydney later this week for the MDC decider before heading back to Queensland for the Bill Elson celebration of life event on Saturday.