Lightly raced youngster Dundee Smokey upstaged several of Victoria’s brightest sprinting talents when setting the qualifying pace in the heats of the Geelong Derby (460m) last Friday night.
Trained by owner/breeder Geoff Scott-Smith at Pakenham South, Dundee Smokey had been a reserve for the Group 3 Great Chase Final last Wednesday after being edged out in a semi-final.
But that disappointment could be alleviated to the tune of $10,000 with victory in Saturday night’s Derby Final.
Dundee Smokey claimed his fifth win from ten starts with a dominant front-running exhibition in the first of two Derby heats, leading all-the-way from Box 4 in a Best Of Night 25.45sec at his Geelong debut.
“It was a really nice run,” said Scott-Smith.
“I knew he had the ability, but the time did surprise me a bit because he’d had a limited preparation, due to a virus and an infection. So, hopefully, he might still have a little bit of improvement in him.
“I actually only saw the Derby at the last minute. He was second reserve for the Great Chase and I didn’t think he was likely to get a start there, so I put him in the Derby heats.”
Scott-Smith gave a very early indication to his lofty opinion of Dundee Smokey after just two starts, when he threw the son of Feral Franky and Dundee Calypso in the deep end, tackling the heats of the G3 Warragul St. Leger in July.
Dundee Smokey was more than competitive, running third to another Geelong Derby finalist in Salad Dodger and multiple Group finalist Kelsey Bale, beaten less than a length.
WATCH: Geelong Derby finalist DUNDEE SMOKEY (B3) was a “dashing” winner of a G3 Great Chase heat at Warrnambool on October 6, clocking a BON 25.12sec.
Finishing unplaced in that hot St. Leger heat was the other Geelong Derby heat winner in Quinlan Bale, a recent G2 Bendigo and Healesville Cup placegetter.
Quinlan Bale, trained locally by Daniel Gibbons, started $1.70 favourite from Box 1 and scored in 25.62sec.
Dundee Smokey has drawn Box 2 for Saturday night’s final, with Quinlan Bale in eight, while other prominent contenders include Bendigo Cup and SA Derby placegetter Salad Dodger (Box 3) and triple G1 finalist Dusty Bourbski (Box 7).
“I’m happy with Box 2,” Scott-Smith said.
“He has a good turn of pace. If he can step cleanly and doesn’t get touched, he’ll take off.
“I think he’s got a fair sort of a chance but, my word, it’s a tough race.
“He’s probably giving eight or nine months in age to some of the others, and experience as well.
“You’d like to think he can develop into a country cup dog, but I don’t know about ‘500’.
“He had his first ‘500’ in the Great Chase semi-finals, where he led for a long way and got beaten on the line by the dog that ran second in the final (Like An Arrow). Being his first ‘500’ I thought he might get a bit tired, but maybe he’ll get a little bit stronger with age.”
Best known for his association with Dundee Osprey, whose three G1 victories were headlined by the 2016 Topgun, Scott-Smith also enjoyed great success with Dundee Smokey’s mother, Dundee Calypso, a triple G1 finalist and winner of the G3 Lizrene in 2017.
Two heats of Geelong’s Oaks were also held last Friday, won by Kanji Victory (25.73sec), trained by Brad Keel, and the Mark Delbridge-prepared Mirabella Bale (25.77sec).
Meanwhile, favourite Action Girl won the Cannonball Sprint Final (400m), clocking 22.25sec to claim the $10,000 winner’s purse for owner/trainer/breeder Gary Peach, improving her perfect Geelong 400m record to four from four, with her 22nd win from 34 starts.
