Georgia Rocks To A Winning Tune

WHAT a difference a week in greyhound racing makes!

This time last Tuesday, in-form Sawyers Gully trainer Darryl Thomas was readying himself for a trip to Gosford with his regally bred first starter Rockin' Georgia, the 18-month old galloper debuting with a breathtaking track record run, posting a sizzling 21.85  for the 388m to score by 11 ½ lengths.

Tonight, Thomas returns to Gosford with his new-found track record holder – tackling the Aqua Splash Maiden Final (388m) – where the daughter of Collision and magnificent producer Cop A Sling, not surprisingly, has been installed a raging hot $1.50 favourite from box seven.

"Gee, there's a lot more pressure tonight after what she produced last week!" said a confident Thomas on Tuesday morning.

"She's always shown she's pretty special – she broke in with very good reports and at her second ever trial, over the 330m at Richmond, she went 18.40 and I thought to myself god, what have we got here?

"It's a big call but at the same stage I'd rate her ahead of where She's Gifted was but don't get me wrong, she still has to go on with it and take the next step – being so brilliant early the concern is she won't get a strong 500 but she broke 12 for the run home the other night and is still very young, I think she will.

"If everything goes to plan tonight it wouldn't surprise me if she went a bit quicker again which I know is a big thing to say – there's still a lot of improvement in her I think. She hadn't been to Gosford before she ran the 22.05 in her performance trial so I knew she'd find a bit off that last week which she did running the record.

"Because she's so young I've only been trialling her every fortnight and win, lose or draw after tonight she'll go for a bit of a break – the penny has really started to drop with her now and is learning what it's all about. Early on everything about her was flat out and 100 mile an hour, but she's starting to mature now, but she still is only 18 months old so the break will do her good."

Thomas, who has enjoyed a terrific start to 2019 with his kennel, landing Wentworth Park wins last week with Steelcity Boxing and Looking Above, is remaining grounded about the prospects of his emerging star, owned in partnership by three harness racing identities.

"Michael Formosa, Mark Callaghan and Joe Clark bought her as a pup and are having heaps of fun with her, they couldn't be happier," beamed Thomas.

"It's their first greyhound, they'd been saying that they wanted to get involved for a while and it's fantastic they've found a good one. There was a good offer for her last week but they said she's not for sale. Their response was – we bought her for fun and we wouldn't have sold her if she was slow, so we won't be selling her because she's fast either!"

Rockin' Georgia continues the outstanding run of success being enjoyed by dam Cop A Sling, the daughter of Fabregas and Chevy Princess, a full-sister to Group 1 winning chaser No Donuts, boasting remarkable statistics, her pups winning at 34 of their 84 starts, a winning strike-rate of 40.5%.

"Can't she throw one!" enthused Thomas.

"I've got Steelcity Boxing and Backhander here from her first litter to Kinloch Brae. Backhander can run you anything – he's seriously fast! He won his maiden in 22.07 at Gosford a few weeks back but has had his share of issues so he's a work in progress.

"I really liked Steelcity Boxing's win in town last week, the plan is to try and get one more sprint win at Wenty and then I'm going to try him over some distance and see how he handles it. The plan is to head down to Sandown or The Meadows with him at some stage over the 600 which I think will suit him down to the ground."

Another chaser from the hugely talented May 16' Kinloch Brae x Cop A Sling litter is Michael and Jodie Manuel's hot sprinter Cop A Chevy, the red brindle flyer making it 12 wins from 19 starts with a stylish 30.03 Wentworth Park success on January 23.

"The Manuels bought Cop A Sling off Brad Canty and she's part of the family now, she lives in the house and they just love her," added Thomas.

"She has a litter to Fernando Bale 4-5 months old and I think their plan is to head to Barcia Bale with her next. There are some others in this Collision litter that can really run as well that are worth keeping an eye out for."

Another chaser Thomas is enjoying a terrific trot with currently is last start Wentworth Park victor Looking Above, the son of Swift Fancy winner at six of his nine starts, that record made even more remarkable by the fact he's returned to the track from two dropped back muscles.

"He's a marvel this dog and we still haven't seen the best of him," declared Thomas.

"He'll be off for a bit now as there are some issues with him I need to iron out but I just love the dog – to come back from two dropped back muscles shows what kind of dog he is.

"We've got a bit going on at the moment. Mrs. Mouse is about to drop to Fernando Bale. She is another that we never got to see the absolute best of at the track but she should make a great brood bitch with her racing results and breeding."