Buster ready for an overdue meeting with 'Lady Luck'

By Pat McLeod

Jayson Valentine is hoping for a slice of racing’s most valued, but elusive, asset on Thursday night – luck.

The Jimboomba trainer has smart sprinter Tarawi Buster engaged at Albion Park and believes he can match it with the class field, especially with the help of 'Lady Luck'.

“Luck does play a big part in greyhound racing, as everyone would acknowledge,” Valentine said.

“Tarawi Buster just needs a little bit of luck. The right run. I have no doubt that if he is in front, he can run 29.70 seconds at Albion.

“If you look back at his races, almost every time he has been doing it tough, but still winning. He hasn't had a lot of luck, especially in box draws. They have been absolutely woeful. So, he has been doing it hard from that perspective, but has still been winning.

“I know he is up to this level, but so much depends on what happens at box rise and whether you get the luck that you want.”

Valentine has no doubt the Oaks Road and Anna Cotton chaser, who has 13 wins and seven placings from 25 starts, has genuine ability.

“You don't go 24.67 seconds at your first look at Ipswich unless you have ability,” Valentine said.

“Tarawi Buster is coming along really well, probably the best that he has ever been at the moment.

“In his last three starts, he won at Grafton and had never been there before, he clocked that fast time in winning at Ipswich over the 431 metres and then won last week’s heat at Albion. What’s scary for me is that I believe he is far from hitting the ceiling just yet.

“He keeps improving every time he steps out onto the track. He keeps surprising and shocking me every time.

“I certainly believe he is a sub-30 second dog at Albion Park (his best time to date is 30.12 seconds).

"Recently he trialed 29.90 seconds there and went six lengths quicker than anything else that trialed on the same night."

Valentine says Tarawi Buster is the complete race dog.

“He will take a bump. He will push others out of the way. He is out there to chase and he is a very smart chaser," Valentine said. 

“And, he has got the speed to go with it, so he is the complete package as a race dog.

“Interestingly, his last couple of wins have been coming from behind as opposed to his previous wins, which were all from an early lead.

“In the early days he wasn't a strong enough dog to do that, but that has certainly changed.”

The biggest danger on Thursday night will be John Corrigan’s Group-class dog Uno Nangar, who will exit from box five. 

“This is a very handy field on Thursday night with the likes of Uno Nangar,” Valentine said. 

“We have met twice before and the score so far is one-all.

“We ran third to her in the Rising Stars heats at Albion Park and we beat her at Ipswich. So, I am really looking forward to Thursday night. It should be a good contest.”