Lalicz Primed For Strong Vince Curry Showing

WITH next to no exposed form to go by, lining up the credentials of the 72 maidens in Saturday night's Vince Curry Memorial Maiden heats is nigh on impossible.

Leaving no stone unturned going into the series is trainer Michael Lalicz, confident he's given Northern Ripple the ideal preparation going into his debut this Saturday night.

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That preparation began late last year with impressive performance trials in Northern NSW at Casino and Lismore.

"Northern Ripple is the lone runner for the series from my Fabregas x Indiana Rumble litter; we were hoping to have Lord Ripple and the fastest of the litter Loaded Ripple ready for a three pronged attack, but they fell to minor injuries," Lalicz said.

"I started with three and I am down to one, but I've left no stone unturned in Northern Ripple's preparation and from a nice box (2) I give him a good chance of getting his teeth into the series."

Lalicz said the pup had a good head on his shoulders and constant signs of growth had him excited about the dog's chances.

"He's shown us that he's fairly consistent through his performance trials at Lismore and Casino and he's had three-weeks of education at Ipswich," Lalicz said.

"The performance trials are definitely a bit of an advantage, it just gives the dog an idea of what raceday is all about, it just seems to prepare the dogs a bit better.

"It's a big ask for a young pup away from home so I've had him up at Ipswich over the last few weeks giving him a couple of post-to-posts and a box-to-box where he improved from 25.21 to 25 flat his second run. He's heading in the right direction."

The litter has been good to go for some time, but the lure of Australia's richest maiden led Lalicz to laying the extensive groundwork.

"I could have started him a month ago at Albion Park where dogs find it a little easier to navigate the turns, but with the lure of the Vince Curry and a solid month to get him ready I'm not over confident, but safe in the knowledge he'll find his way around," he added.

"The first couple of times there he was skipping around the corners but he knows the lay of the land now and is getting around a lot easier."

Lalicz's mentor, renowned breeder/trainer Steve Kavanagh, was the source of the dam Indiana Rumble with another astute breeder Clint Kratzmann taking notice of the bitch.

"Steve Kavanagh raced Indiana Rumble for a while before he sold her to Clint Kratzmann who had a nice litter out of her and I then decided to lease her off Clint for this Fabregas litter," Lalicz said.

"Clint has three and I've got four and sold a couple; we're hopeful they perform well, and we can continue the line."

Lalicz, who now runs his operation full time out of Kavanagh's former Pottsville property, looks set for a big year.

"I've got a really big focus on breeding this year, next time Ripple Rumble comes on season I'll look to breed with her, and Josie Rumble has her first litter on the ground here at home to Collision," Lalicz said.

"The kennels are quite full and even though Steve (Kavanagh) is always lending a hand I don't want to end up being one bloke looking after 40 dogs, I think I've found about the right ratio now."