It took one trial at Warragul for Darren Pattinson to set Zipping Bronze on the path to the Launching Pad.
Already a winner of six of his nine career starts, Zipping Bronze is a $7 chance with TAB to take out the $150,000 first prize in Thursday night’s final.
“Right from the moment we got him we thought he had a bit of ability, and if he gets the right run he can win the race,” said Pattinson.
Owned and bred by leading New South Wales breeder Martin Hallinan, Zipping Bronze and his littermates arrived at Pattinson’s Pearcedale kennels in November and made an immediate impression.
“Marty gave us a call and asked if we could take a few dogs,” said Pattinson, whose first greyhound in his care was owned by Hallinan.
“They do a great job with the pups. When the dogs came down you could see they’d been prepared really well and were ready to go. Of the nine in the litter seven have already won races and one hasn’t raced yet so it’s obviously a pretty smart litter, we’re rapt.”
The Launching Pad, a sweepstakes event in which connections pay $2000 for a spot in the heats, is restricted to greyhounds with 1-6 wins and no more than 30 starts. Zipping Bronze was joined by Zipping King and Zipping Hawk in the $400,000 series with both littermates reaching the semi-finals. The timing of their arrival on the race track couldn’t have worked out more perfectly.
“For young dogs it’s the best race around. Running for that sort of prize money you have to go in it and you can understand why there were so many people buying tickets for it – it’s a big thing for those sorts of dogs. With this litter the first time I trialed them over 460m at Warragul, I knew it was the Launching Pad was the race we’d be targeting.
“Because their first starts came in January it gave us enough time to get some racing into them and have them coming good in time for the Launching Pad. If they had of come onto the scene a bit earlier and they’d showed some good form you have to pick and choose your races. As it worked out two of the dogs had won 5 and the other 4 and they’d had 8 starts each so it worked out perfectly.”
Success in the Launching Pad would be the biggest win in Pattinson’s training career. While his preparations for the race have been near perfect, drawing box 4 in the final was far from ideal. Nonetheless, Pattinson believes Zipping Bronze is a good chance on Thursday night.
“I would have liked box one or two.
“There’s a bit of pace around him so he’ll need a bit of luck but he can begin and if he does he should run well. There’s a few runners that can be a bit hit and miss but if they time it right they could lead comfortably.
“It’ll all depend on what happens on the first turn. Whatever happens I know he’ll try his guts out.”
Picture: Darren Pattinson with Zipping Bronze and Zipping Hawk after completing their preparations at the Cranbourne slipping track
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Zipping Bronze reaches the Launching Pad final by running second to Zippy Daph
