Brown confident Ride The Rails will steam home at Launceston
WHEN Peter “Big Chief” Brown passed away suddenly in October last year the Victorian greyhound industry was rocked to the core. One of the truly likeable personalities in the sport was taken away, but a legacy of his hard work lives on in the highly talented chaser Ride The Rails.
“The dog broke his hock and dad was integral in getting him back to the track,” Darren Brown said. “He was on the way to patching him up when he died.
“Alistair Smith did a sensational job on the operation, but the work of dad and the Bravos [Kelly and Brett Bravo] has been magnificent. The dog hasn't put a foot wrong since then and has gone from strength to strength.”
The son of Cosmic Chief and Pearl Napoleon has amassed a career record of 56 starts for 22 wins and 22 minor placings, but his form since the hock injury has been outstanding. He has had 11 starts for seven wins and four minor placing, including a second in the Group 1 Hobart Thousand Final and third-placed finish in the Group 2 Warragul Cup Final.
This recent run of outstanding form has Darren Brown confident Ride The Rails will be competitive in Monday night's final of the $40,000-to-the-winner Group 2 Launceston Cup.
“We're in it to win it,” he said. “We are confident he will run a good race and hopefully the result is better than the Hobart Thousand. He ran a very good race in the heat and was also a good win in the semi. The other dog of Kelly's [Waymore's Blues] will be very hard to beat, as will the local dog in box five [Breaker's Tip].
“The Launceston Club should be commended on a fantastic series. The $40,000 prizemoney for the winner puts it right up near the Victorian country cups in regards to prizemoney. We were shocked that more Victorians didn't make the trip over considering the prizemoney on offer. Hopefully we have something in the kennels worthy of a crack again next year!”
It seems like Ride The Rails has been around the scenes for a long time, but he debuted as a young pup and this exciting dog doesn't turn four until October.
“It's hard to look too far forward with them, but he's in the Rookie Rebel next Saturday night and I'm guessing he might target the Australian Cup after that,” Brown said. “But I'm just not sure where we are heading, it's up to Kelly and Brett where they go with him.”
As for Brown himself? “I've just got a litter of Velocette and Encampbell's I'm playing around with. Encampbell was the mother of Magic Diva. They go to the breakers in April and I'm just playing around with those to get them ready before they head off to Jimmy Auld's. Hopefully I can have some fun with those in the future and get back into the training side of things. Dad would want me to continue training, but for now I'm just enjoying watching Ride The Rails and a few of our others like Magic Diva and Elite Diva go round.”