Little River trainer David Burnett will launch a pre-emptive strike on two Group 2 series over the next 48 hours – one local and the other interstate.
Burnett has Simon Told Helen (Box 6) in a Queensland Derby heat (520m) tonight at Albion Park in Brisbane, then Snags McKenzie (Box 1) in a Ballarat Cup heat (450m) on Saturday night.
“Amazingly, it took until his 38th start to draw box one and he (Snags McKenzie) duly saluted, and then he did the same two starts later,” Burnett said of Snags McKenzie. “Both wins were at The Meadows and in sub 30-second time.”
Subsequently Snags McKenzie is undefeated in two starts from the cherished ‘red’ alley.
“He’s drawn where he wants to be, but he’ll need his own way,” Burnett added. “He’ll need to lead to win, as it’s going to be tough against greyhounds the calibre of Whiskey Riot and Weblec Ace. But I think he’s a great value bet at $6.”
Burnett says Snags McKenzie – recently runner-up to Simon Told Helen in the G3 Cup Night Sprint on Melbourne Cup night at Sandown – is capable of extremely quick times.
“I trialled four greyhounds, including Simon Told Helen, post-to-post at Sandown a couple of weeks prior to the Melbourne Cup series and Snags McKenzie went the quickest in 25.03sec, which any trainer will tell you is a phenomenal time.”
Burnett is also bullish about the chances of Simon Told Helen (pictured above), who has also won the G3 Great Chase (defeating litter brother Who Told Stevie) and finished second to Barooga Brett in the G3 Silver Bullet.
“He’s ready to go… He’s running the times, what more can he do,” Burnett said.
“His only weakness is his first two or three strides, but he can put lengths on a field from the first to second sections. He’s the got a ‘visitor’s’ draw, but it’s only a case whether they let him through the gap in the early stages.”
