Crawford has numbers to make first Vince Curry impact

By Pat McLeod

South-east Queensland conditioner Jeff Crawford has the numbers to make his first major impression on the prestigious Group 3 Vince Curry Memorial Maiden (520m), starting with the heats at Ipswich on Saturday night.

Crawford, whose kennel is at Buccan, just south of Brisbane, has six runners across the seven heats.

He says the heats stage of the Vince Curry Maiden is always a major learning curve for the dogs and their connections.

“It is difficult to predict how mine will go because they are still so young and obviously inexperienced and of course most of the other runners are first starters, so you know little about them as well,” Crawford said.

“It is too early to tell if there any real standouts in my group.

“They have all just had a couple of trials with dogs and so at this stage I certainly haven't become too overawed with them.

“They are all trialling competitive times and the box draw has been quite favourable for me in the heats.

“I have drawn the four box or inside of that for all six, which is great because they all seem to want the rail in the trials.”

Crawford said his starters were from two home-bred litters – Hooked On Kisses, Blue Blend and Scotch On Ice from the Hooked On Scotch x Kiss And Cut litter and Star Turn, Strut and Apex from the Aston Rupee x Strike Her Pose litter.

“The Vince Curry is always an attractive option if you have pups that are ready and you believe are suited to this race,” he said.

“The beauty about this series being over three weeks is that if they progress through to the semis stage, at the very worst, it continues their preparation for 500metre racing.”

Although he hasn’t had success in this feature to date, Crawford said he had been a long-time fan of the event.

“There is a lot of history to this race and also a level of prestige associated with it being the world’s richest greyhound maiden race (worth $75,000 to the winner),” he said.

“I think most people would agree that perhaps the best dog doesn't always win the final, but there are plenty of good dogs that come out of this series.

“Every year you find there are several very good dogs to follow over the next couple of years.

“It is very interesting to watch the development of these dogs through their careers.

“The Vince Curry certainly unveils the next wave of talent.

“It would be nice if a couple of my dogs were part of that wave this year.”

The Vince Curry Maiden Final, on Saturday, February 1, also brings the curtain down on the Golden Greys Summer Carnival.

Crawford is hopeful of achieving some success in an earlier carnival feature, the Listed Clem Jones Cup Final (710m) on Thursday night at Albion Park.

He has surprise packet, Ace’s Chance, exiting box 3.

The former Temora (NSW) chaser has been a revelation since coming north in October, winning on four occasions and placing six times from 12 starts.

Crawford stepped the dog up to 710 metres for three wins and two placings from five starts.

“I advertised a giveaway and a chap took it and over time we struck up a friendship,” he explains.

“During one of our regular phone conversations I mentioned that I was looking out for a couple of distance dogs and he phoned back offering me a dog that he had recently bought, Ace’s Chance, to train.

“That dog has since developed into a good distance performer and is one of the nicest dogs I have ever had around the kennels, an absolute pleasure to train.

“On Thursday night he is up against some real class so we are not getting carried away with his chances, just hoping that he runs a nice honest race, which we expect he will.

“If that is good enough to figure in the finish, then so be it.

“He has surpassed all of our expectations and what he is doing for us now is a bonus.”