Jack jumping as sharp as a knife ahead of NQ Cup

By Jordan Gerrans

Townsville conditioner Greta Thomson thinks she is just starting to work out promising chaser Jackknifed.

The fawn dog and the Black River-based trainer have picked a perfect time to get on the same page ahead of Tuesday’s North Queensland Cup decider at the Showgrounds facility in Townsville.

Jackknifed was a smart heat winner last Tuesday in 28.94 seconds from the five alley and he will commence from the same position in the Final.

The North Queensland Cup offers $16,000 to the champion and is restricted to northern-based greyhounds.

The two-year-old Jackknifed did his early raced in New South Wales for Christine Proctor and he has been a smart purchase for Thomson since he shifted to NQ in the middle of 2024.

In his 10 appearances at the Showgrounds, the son of Beast Unleashed has collected three victories and four minor placings with a best winning performance of 28.84 seconds.

Jackknifed jumped cleanly from the five in his heat last week and Thomson has her fingers crossed that he can do the same on the big stage on Tuesday.

“I have been persevering, he has had a few problems and I have been trying to sort him out,” Thomson said.

“I have been working on him.

“He has been a little bit of a hard dog to work out since I have had him – just trying to work out his training regime on the walking machine and on the straight track.

“We are slowly getting there, just finding out if I need to give him a little more work or a little less.

“I am slowly working that out with him as they are all different these dogs.”

Jackknifed enjoyed a strong dual with Grinch from the Bobbie-Jean Chaffey kennel through the middle stages of last week’s heat before Thomson’s dog eventually wore him down and snuck away with the prize.

Jackknifed put more than five lengths on the classy field of locals in the heat.

Thomson also started kennelmates Jet Easy and Idyllic Patch across last Tuesday’s heats and was smiling to land a runner in the feature event.

“It was a good run, I was rapt with the run of Jackknifed really – over the moon actually,” she said.

“He just needs to jump and that is the thing about these 498 metre races – you need to get that jump first.

“I thought he jumped pretty good last week in the heat, that was the first time in a long time that he had done that.”

The Thomson kennel have been prominent in feature races in recent times, claiming the annual Townsville Derby and Futurity crowns with My Mate Neo and I'm A Neo last year.

As a trainer that does all the kennel and trialing work herself, as well as owning her own dogs, racing in the big races is always a special feeling.

“He is a beautiful kennel dog, a nice decent sized dog,” Thomson said of Jackknifed.

“He is pretty quiet in the kennels and loves his galloping.

“I put a lot of time into these dogs that I own and train myself and it is good to see the outcome when they perform well.”

The Tony Parker-prepared Showtime Isaac was the quickest qualifier from the six heats contested at the Showgrounds facility last Tuesday night in 28.66 seconds.  

Showtime Isaac jumps from the three in the decider.

The annual NQ Cup is a key series on the northern greyhound calendar with the event restricted to dogs based further north than Gympie.

Thomson heads to the races on Tuesday evening with six runners engaged from her team and likes the chances of Jet Easy over 498 metres in the fifth event on the program.