Bob’s Uncle a leading local contender for Group 2 Maitland Cup
ABERMAIN trainer Jimmy Mcglinn is hoping his exciting chaser Bob's Uncle can affirm his position as the best greyhound he has trained when he contests a heat of the Group 2 Maitland Cup (450m) on Thursday afternoon.
The black powerhouse, $2.40 to win his heat with Bet365, comes into the lucrative $36,000 series with just six starts to his name, having won five of them in ultra-impressive style around the Maitland circuit, including the prestigious Gold Collar (400m) two starts back, beating some of the area's best speedsters in the process.
“He is a young dog with a lot of natural ability, but he is still very green and learning how to race,” Mcglinn told Australian Racing Greyhound.
“I was a bit reluctant to nominate him for the Gold Collar to start with, but the more I thought about it I realised the better dogs race truer – there is generally less interference racing against those types of dogs than with dogs of his own age and experience.
“Thankfully that proved to be the case and he won well.”
While he has made a superb start to his career, this series is going to be a whole different ball game for the son of Swift Fancy and Lagoon Smylee up against some of the best speed dogs in NSW and Victoria.
Mcglinn said it was a big call to go after the Cup, but is hopeful that Bob's Uncle will repay his faith by qualifying for next week's decider.
“It was a big decision whether or not to put him in the Cup heats – the owners ended up leaving it to me and said if I thought he was up to it then they were happy to give him a crack at it.
“The reason I decided to put him in was because it was open to the best 64 so there is going to be a lot of other dogs which aren't any better than him.
“We'll give him a chance and see what he does.
“At this stage the only thing letting him down is his box manners. It's the one area we can't get him to do right – he doesn't get up to the front of the boxes and he is sitting back and launching off the back door.
“I have found over the years you just have to keep persevering with them… you can only teach them so much and they have got to learn the rest for themselves.
“Hopefully he will learn what to do and will start coming out better, it would be great if he could do that on Thursday.”
A win would also be a massive reward for Mcglinn and Bob's Uncle's syndicate of owners who have shown plenty of patience in getting him to the track, with the 34.5kg chaser not starting until after his second birthday.
“About five years ago I trained a dog for the owners and his name was Bob's My Uncle and I won 10 races with him.
“They have had a few dogs since then, but when they bought this pup off a friend of mine they rang me and asked me if I would train him.
“They purchased him at three months old and I recommended that he be sent out to Mick and Jodie Manuel's property to be reared.
“I bought him home when he was 12 months old and started to break him in and I told the owners after I broke him in that he was faster than any dog I have ever broken in up the straight.
“After break in he got a little hairline fracture in his metacarpal and Peter Yore suggested that we turn him out for a few months because at that stage he was a big dog and still very immature.
“I was very fortunate that the owners went along with it and did what had to be done – they gave me free reign with him – so I gave him six months off and then brought him back with plenty off free galloping.”
Making the final would also be a career highlight for Mcglinn, who purchased his first greyhound back in 1953.
“He has showed me right from day one that he was something special – so I have had big wraps on him for quite a while.
“I have had plenty of good dogs which have won a lot of races, but I have never won a big group race so it would be nice if this bloke could be my first after all these years.
“I would be really happy for the owners, and myself of course, because they have been so patient with the dog and they really deserve it.”
Bob's Uncle will jump from box five in the seventh heat of the Maitland Gold Cup which is set to jump at 5:42pm AEDT.
Watch Bob's Uncle (6) winning the Gold Collar.
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