Owners are a special treat for Robinsons

By Pat McLeod

Veteran dog man Dennis Robinson has two runners with winning form in Friday’s Golden Chase Sprint semi-finals at Ipswich, but his pre-race accolades are mostly about the owners.

“I believe both dogs (Tricky Micky and Say When Glen) are strong winning chances and I would love to see them continue to win for the owners,” Dennis Robinson said.

“They are a special group of people. They are from gallops and harness racing backgrounds and have had a lot of success in their own fields, but they are just really, really good people.

“I have been in greyhound racing for quite some time, but you couldn’t get a nicer bunch of people to work with. They are very good in their own field, but they leave the greyhound training to (his wife) Denise and I.”

Dennis and Denise Robinson are based just across the border at Condong and have been involved with this group of owners for a couple of years.

They include top Queensland thoroughbred trainer Desleigh Forster, as well as prominent owners Chris and Norm Mayne and champion harness racing trainer and driver Kevin Thomas and daughter Letitia.

Members of the ownership group have a total of five dogs with the Robinsons.

Tricky Micky and Say When Glen stormed through to their heats with resounding wins.

Say When Glen won his heat by seven-and-a-quarter-lengths in a best of the night time of 24.71 seconds, while Tricky Micky was almost as impressive with his seven-length win in 24.86 seconds. 

“They are both pretty handy dogs,” Dennis Robinson said.

“Tricky Micky is going really well. In fact he has been going well since day one.

“He broke the 25 seconds in his maiden at Ipswich. Say When Glen is just learning and isn’t two years old yet.

“He was initially a little bit green from the boxes to start with and he is still learning as well. His run last week, the best of the night, was pretty impressive.

“On Friday he has to come out of the five which might be a bit of a concern and so there are no guarantees there. Tricky is out of the three, which is better.

“They are different dogs altogether, but as far as ability goes they are pretty close. I do rate the chances of both dogs on Friday.

“I honestly think that if Say When Glen gets out like he did last week, there will be no holding him back. He will win for sure.”

Dennis Robinson says there is quality across the four semi-finals and especially has healthy respect for Darren Russell’s duo, litter sisters Swift Beach and Savanna Beach, who have both drawn the pink.

Savanna Beach won the recent Corporate Dollars Challenge Final at Ipswich with Swift Beach third.

“Darren is a good mate of mine and I checked both of those dogs for him on Monday,” Dennis Robinson said.

“He is a top bloke, a very good trainer and they are two very good dogs.”

Dennis Robinson plans to progress both of his dogs through to the next Golden Chase stage, the 520 metre feature (heats will be held on March 15).

“If I can get enough work into them then I will definitely enter them in that series,” Dennis Robinson said.

The 431 and 520 metre Golden Chase features are annual events for graduates of the Ipswich auction.