Thousand reveals star sprinter
HUNKAPAPA kept his unbeaten record intact when he delivered a career-best effort to win the Hobart Maiden Thousand final in Hobart on Thursday night.
The Patrick Ryan-trained dog went into the series as an unraced pup but he caught the eye when he was the fastest heat winner of the Maiden Thousand series, clocking 26.04 over the 461m trip.
He drew box five on debut but the powerfully built son of US sire Bella Infrared made light of the squeeze box. He had to contend with the same draw in a semi-final and again made it look easy and stopped the clock at a sizzling 25.95.
On Thursday night he drew box eight and looked to be in a spot of trouble on the home turn as he was near last and with tiring opposition falling back in his face. But that’s when his natural smarts kicked in and he wove a safe passage through the field and once on the lure he powered up the home straight to win easily in a time of 29.99.
He went around the $1.70 favourite on the tote but started at $1.35 with fixed odds operator Ladbrokes.
“We took our time with this dog because he showed very good ability when he first came to us about five months ago but we didn’t want to rush him into racing,” said co-trainer Brennan Ryan.
“We decided to wait for the Maiden Thousand series to start him off because he showed enough to suggest he would be very competitive.”
Hunkapapa is owned in Victoria by Geoff Collins, who is regarded as one of the best and most successful breeders in Australia.
“Geoff Collins spoke to Dad [Pat Ryan] and suggested the dog would be worth sending over [to Tasmania]. Because he is Vic-bred he can’t run in any of the special events that are predominantly for locally-bred dogs so he will have a week off and then dad will talk to Geoff and arrange a suitable time to send him home.”
While Hunkapapa was the best to emerge from the Thou- sand series, minor placegetters Dooper and Jamella Jet both have bright futures.
Dooper won his heat, then finished second to the promising Notorious Mac.
In the final he drew the inside box but was slowly away but recovered from a serious check to rattle home and grab second. Jamella Jet won his heat and was second to Hunkapapa in their semi-final then suffered interference before finishing well to grab third. THE heats of the Group 2 Launceston Cup will be held at Mowbray on Monday night, with the semi-finals a week later. The final will be on Saturday, February 17. Other than the interstate-owned dogs already in Tasmania and having contested the Hobart Thousand and Devonport Cup, only two additional interstate invaders have made the trip.