Trainer tips Any Art to be the big improver in Golden Chase Final

By Pat McLeod

Win or lose in Saturday night’s Golden Chase Sprint Final at Ipswich, trainer Robert Ayres says punters will see a vastly improved performance from his smart young bitch Any Art.

That’s quite a statement considering her eye-catching win in the semi-final of the annual feature over Darren Russell’s very handy Savanna Beach in 24.93 seconds. 

“She (Any Art) has only had 15 starts and she is very young, improving and still has a fair way to go,” Ayres said.

“What is very good to see is how much she is improving with each start. The litter turned two at the start of this year, so are just babes. This campaign is Any Art’s first time racing over the 431 metres at Ipswich.

“She is starting to jump and getting away quick early. And, of course the start is the secret to all racing, as everyone knows.

“Now what you will see on Saturday night with my girl is a vastly improved dog. Come June, you will see much better dogs across this whole litter because they are improving all the time.

“Any Art is maturing, showing tenacity and also a little bit of sense running through a field. With any race dog it takes at least 10 starts for them to work out how to run through a field, how to race with other dogs around.

“It is one thing to trial by themselves, but it's another thing to race with other dogs.”

Ayres bred the Tommy Shelby and Boscono litter, with the mother one of the most successful dogs he has raced since belatedly taking out his trainers licence in 2014.

“We always had greyhounds around us when we were growing up in Oakleigh, Melbourne,” Ayres recalls.

“Then from when I was about 20 I had other interests until I got back into greyhounds via the Northfields (the legendary Northern NSW greyhound family).

“I started training when I moved to Wurtulla near Caloundra.”

Ayres now operates a five-dog kennel out of an acre and a half at the nearby Glass House Mountains.

Of the 10 pups racing from the Boscono litter, Ayres trains four.

He says Any Art (box four) is a genuine chance on Saturday night in what is a very competitive field.

“This is a very handy field for this race on Saturday night,” Ayres said.

“I was impressed with all of the semi-finals. There's not a great deal of difference between the fastest and slowest from those dogs who qualified from the semi's.

“It will be a really tight field and again it comes down to, ‘he who jumps and gets into the right position early, will win’. I believe my dog is a genuine chance on Saturday night.

“She missed the start in the heat by a couple of lengths and had to come through the whole field to get second.

“That was a great run. Then she jumped well in the semi-final and was strong at the finish and won. She may have beaten home Savanna Beach (trained by Darren Russell), but I have a high opinion of that dog.

“She (Savanna Beach) has box three on Saturday night and from an inside box I believe she will be very hard to beat if she begins well. You will be pushing the barrow up hill to beat her.”

There are threats in every box on Saturday night, but the strongest is proven big-race speedster Affluent (John McCarthy), who boasts the quickest time at track and distance – 24.81 seconds. 

Ayres said the plan was to progress with Any Art through to the 520 metre stage of the Golden Chase series, which starts with heats on March 15.