Jake's Burning Sale Cup Ambition

GROUP 1 Gold FM Sale Cup favourite Roper River Jake's stunning near-record heat victory came as no surprise to his two-time Cup-winning trainer Jason Thompson.

Thompson is very well-acquainted with successful NSW breeder David Pringle's line, which also produced current Sale record-holder Burn One Down, a multiple Group winner and record-breaker under the champion mentor's guidance.

In last Friday night's Cup heats, Roper River Jake, an August '17 son of Kinloch Brae and Midnight News, was less than two lengths outside Burn One Down's 650m record of 36.66s, set in July 2017.

"I know how quick Roper River Jake is when things go his way," said Jason Thompson, who has won the Sale Cup with Awesome Assassin in 1998 and Hercules in 2005.

"I don't know how many races he's actually led. Normally he's got to come from behind and work his way through the field.

"So when he began well and found the front early on it didn't surprise me, because as I say, he's a very fast dog when things go his way.

"The track was in good order and the weather conditions were beautiful but in saying that, there were some very talented dogs in the other heats and he did go quite a bit quicker than all of them, which was pleasing."

Contesting the first of four Cup heats, Roper River Jake was the $4.30 second elect from box six, with champion Tornado Tears the $2.70 favourite from box three.

Roper River Jake came out running and railed to the lead rounding the first turn, while early interference put Tornado Tears to the tail of the field and out of play.

It was one-way traffic as Roper River Jake powered to the line, trouncing runner-up Steinbrenner ($7.40) by an ever-widening 5.77 lengths in 36.79s.

It was his eighth win from 20 starts and justified the faith Thompson and long-time kennel clients Serge and Bill Buccilli showed when purchasing the potential staying star two months ago.

"We bought him off the Pringles' with that in mind," Thompson said.

"The Pringle line is a very strong line and Kinloch Brae also throws a good bit of strength into his progeny.

"The Pringles only keep the real superstars – that's their business – and we thought he could potentially be a really good stayer. Touchwood, next year he'll get up to 700m and we'll have some fun with him.

"Friday night was the furthest he's been so far and he ran it out really well and was strong to the line."

Roper River Jake claimed qualifying honours comfortably, with the other run-offs won by Waging War (Glenn Rounds – 36.94s), Rockstar Beav (Andrea Dailly – 37.04s) and Kraken Dust (Rodney Clark – 37.39s).

After drawing box seven for Thursday night's $75,000 to-the-winner Cup Final, Roper River Jake is NED's $4.00 third favourite, behind Waging War (box 5) at $3.20 and Tauwitchere (box 1) at $3.80.

"It's a very open race," Thompson said.

"Some of the big names – Tornado Tears and True Detective – aren't there, but I don't think there's any weak links and you could make a case for every dog in the race.

"There are no standouts and the box draw has probably mixed it up even further.

"Roper River Jake wants inside and I was hoping to draw one, two or three. But he's a funny dog in that when he draws inside for some reason he doesn't seem to be able to take advantage of it but when he draws out wide he often begins better.

"It is what it is. I'd rather be in the race with box seven than sitting at home in his kennel!"

PIC: GRV/BLUESTREAM PICTURES