Distance still the end game for a resuming Brunswick Flyer

By Pat McLeod

Northern NSW trainer Bruce Timbs is rapt to be coming back to Albion Park on Thursday night with kennel ‘gun’ Brunswick Flyer, but also coming along are a ‘truckload of nerves’.

His Zambora Brockie and Tauwitchere chaser's last race outing was back on November 11. 

"He is such a hard chaser,” Timbs said. 

Four months later Timbs believes Brunswick Flyer is ready to return to racing, but not at his peak fitness.

“Right now he is pretty good, but we will find out more on Thursday night,” Timbs said of the fifth grade heat over 520 metres.

"There is no doubt he needs match fitness. Obviously there was the time off through injury and then the cyclone meant that I did not get the work into him that I wanted to.

“I gave him a post-to-post at Albion Park the other day and unfortunately I wasn't too happy with that. He was nearly four-tenths off what he would normally run.

“Fingers crossed and after a couple of runs that will tell me how he is coming back. I won't be sacking him on Thursday's performance. Whatever he does he will improve on.

“It is a stepping stone to get back to where I hope he will get. I definitely am happy that he is back on track, but I haven’t great expectations.

“If he does do very well on Thursday night I will be doing cartwheels, but I am reluctant to predict that. Let's just see how long it takes for him to get back to his best.”

Before the injury Brunswick Flyer was showing plenty of promise.

He has just 16 starts to date for eight wins and seven placings.

While six of those wins were over the 520 metres at Albion, Timbs had no doubt the dog’s future and major success was over more distance.

He had moved him up to 600 metres for four starts (two wins and a second) when injury struck.

As long as the dog shows he has fully recovered from injury, Timbs will again look for more distance.

“I will give him four or five runs over the 520 metres, harden him up and then switch him to 600 metre racing," the trainer said. 

“That will tell me where he is at. I have always been adamant that I believe that he will eventually be a distance dog, most likely over the 700 metres.

“He always looks like he wants more ground even over the 600 metre races that he has had so far, but you never know until they actually go over the distance.

“On the positive side, I know what the dog is capable of. I haven't even got him wound up yet. There is a lot more in the tank.

“Any injury is disappointing, but he was certainly at a stage where he was showing so much promise. He's best certainly looked as though it was ahead of him over a longer distance.”

Timbs, who only returned to greyhound racing last year after a break of about 15 years, is based out of a seven-acre property at the coastal town of Brunswick Heads, in Northern NSW.

He says Brunswick Flyer is a major reason he has not regretted his return.

“He (Brunswick Flyer) is not only a consistent, professional race dog, but also a complete gentleman,” Timbs said.

“He is calm, cool, collected in whatever situation. When he gets to the races, he switches on. But, that is what good dogs do. They do everything right.

“I won't read too much into Thursday night. We have box eight, but the box doesn't really matter because unfortunately he just flops out, whatever box he is in.

“Going into that first corner on Thursday night he will be looking at seven bums. But, all I want to see is him rounding up a couple of dogs and hitting the line strongly.”