As a pup, Wendy Hughes had her concerns about the young dog who would eventually go by the name Palawa King.
It was 2021 and Wendy and her husband Errol had whelped and reared Palawa King, but she had a reason for the scepticism about his future.
“He was always a beautiful dog. He did everything right. That’s why I said to my husband, he won't be any good because back then he did everything right all the time,” she explained expecting that while perfect then, things would probably change. “But, he has now come out and does everything right.”
Crowned Greyhound of the Year for 2023 just a few weeks ago, Palawa King will be looking for a local coronation ceremony next Saturday night having qualified for the final of the world’s richest middle-distance race, the $125,000 to the winner Ladbrokes Country Classic.
And he showed in his scintillating heat, that while he has become a marvel and dispelled Wendy’s concerns, he doesn’t quite do ‘everything’ right.
True to form Palawa King missed the start hopelessly, then, as if he had a jockey steering, he managed to manoeuvre his way through the field and race away for a superb victory.
“It’s a great thrill to be in this final,” Wendy added.
Asked where her heart is at the start of his races Wendy replied: “We won't go there. No, we all know what he's like. We all know how he's going to run the race, and we just hope that he gets the breaks, and he's been lucky so far. He knows how to read the races.
“He’s a terrific dog and we’ve got good trainers with Jack (Smith) and Maree.”
Palawa King, along with his kennelmate, Million Dollar Chase finalist Bella Una, are the Forbes-based Smiths’ first finalists in their local feature.
“It’s just a little bit short for him, but he's getting there so I can't complain,” Jack said with Palawa King’s big Group 1 wins coming over the 730m instead of the 605m which Dubbo has.
“This is our home track and we want him to do well here, and he’s into the final so let’s hope he gets some clear running.
“He’s just got a big motor and he just knows where that line is, so hopefully he can find it next week.”
Palawa King clocked 34.98s in defeating Rebel Ethics by 3½ lengths not the fastest of the four semi-finals conducted on Saturday night. That honour went to the Dennis Barnes-trained Nangar Rocket who clocked 34.62s and will line-up for his second successive crack at the Country Classic.
In 2023 he finished fourth behind Showman Jack, and coincidentally he has drawn the same box, number four for next Saturday’s final.
“It’s great and it's very exciting just to get into these finals and for second time in row, so that's great for him,” Dennis’ wife Ann Barnes said.
“At The Gardens (in his heat) he came out awkwardly and gave them a good start and ran home well to run fourth thank goodness and qualify for tonight but I'm glad he come out properly tonight.
“It's always good to have a feature race on your home track and it's good advantage to have it.”
The Barnes are located at Cudal in the Central West and with their daughter and son-in-law they rear and break in a lot of pups including Nangar Rocket obviously, but also fellow finalist, Jack Smith’s Bella Una.
The good times continued for another Central West trainer, Orange’s Jay Opetaia who qualified Agland Luai for the final.
Two weeks ago Opetaia was awarded the Young Achiever award at GRNSW’s annual Greyhound of the Year ceremony, then a week later scored the biggest win of his training career when Go Bears won the Group 2, $50,000 Richmond Derby final.
“He’s just a top grade dog, he made the Million Dollar Chase (final in 2022), he’s a free-for-all dog at Wenty, you don’t get many of them, he’s a marvellous old dog” said Jay’s uncle Scott Board of Agland Luai.
“Richmond (where he qualified last week for the semis) is not his track, so he likes either here or Wentworth Park, but we sat down and thought that Dubbo was going to be a really tough heat, so we went to Richmond with just the hope that he would squeeze through and knew we grow a leg once he came here.
“He was broken in here, he had his first run out of the boxes here when he was broken in and he knows his place backwards.
“This would mean a lot to Jay. He won the Derby last Friday, so if he added this, it would make a big difference to him because for young boy, it would make a massive difference.”
Also qualifying from that semi-final was the Helen Rylands-trained Big Thunder.
The other semi-final winner was a visitor, Victorian Aston Costello who clocked 35.26s in beating Might Have Been for Minnie Finn, who won the inaugural Country Classic in 2022 with Zipping Kyrgios.
“It was a nice run, he got trapped a bit wide, but he just kept punching along,” said caretaker trainer Charmaine Roberts who had been entrusted with the dog by trainer Vicki Wisener. “I thought he might have gone a bit quicker but the pressure’s off and he did the right thing.
“Box five tonight did him no favours but he did everything right, he just needs to improve a few more lengths.
“He’s actually a beautiful dog. He does everything right, so we just hope he can do everything right next week.”
