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  • Friday, 03 Jan, 2020,
  • by Gerard Guthrie

Mastermind set to Star at Warrnambool

The sharp drop from Group 1 company should see consistent youngster Mastermind Kid make his presence felt in Saturday night’s heats of the Warrnambool Star (450m), as the annual Seaside Carnival swings into top gear.

Trained by Daryl Williams at Bannockburn, Mastermind Kid reeled off four straight victories, two at Warrnambool, including a win over subsequent Sale Rising Star victor Aston Nino, to earn a crack at last Saturday’s Silver Chief heats at The Meadows.

A son of 2011 Silver Chief winner Kilty Lad, Mastermind Kid was far from disgraced in running third to boom prospect Who Told Stevie in a flying 29.68s.

“He won the four in a row and then we took him to The Meadows on a Wednesday and he missed the start and got into a lot of trouble,” Williams explained.

WATCH: Mastermind Kid (B1) finish second to Who Told Stevie (B6) in the eighth Silver Chief heat at The Meadows.

“The young guys that own him wanted to have a go at the Silver Chief and he went well but wasn’t quite up to that standard.

“He ran third in a respectable time and went head and head early with David Burnett’s good dog (Who Told Stevie) but it was a bit strong for him.

“He’s a nice, handy dog. He’s no world beater but he’s a good honest chaser and we’re having a lot of fun with him.”

While Mastermind Kid didn’t qualify for the Silver Chief Final, Williams found an attractive ‘Plan B’ in the heats of the Warrnambool Star.

The winner of six from 16, Mastermind Kid will exit box eight in the second of two heats, with the $5000 to-the-winner final to be held next Saturday.

“I expect him to go really well,” Williams said.

“He’s got early pace and he’ll run a strong 450m.”

Mastermind Kid is one of only three greyhounds Williams and wife Lisa have in their racing team.

The others are George’s Fever and Miyagi Magic, half-brothers to Mastermind Kid by Buck Fever, with are raced by the PreLee Syndicate, which includes cousins Nick and Sam Lecchino.

“George’s Fever and Miyagi Magic have both won in Melbourne,” Williams said.

“I’ve also bred a litter of my own out of a bitch I used to train called Star Desire.

“She had 41 starts and was placed in 36 of them. She ran 18 seconds and we were just talking about it this morning that in ten of them she was beaten less than a neck. She never got beaten out of the boxes.

“I used another dog that I used to train called Didda Joe. People have probably never heard of him but he won $70,000 prizemoney.

“Didda Joe has only had four litters but he’s thrown real bread and butter dogs that’ve won about $150,000.

“He was a beautiful dog, nature-wise, and he could run 600m so I thought with Star Desire’s speed we might get something in between. They’re 12 months old and I’ve got five of them at home that I’m very happy with.”

The two heats of the Warrnambool Star are races 6 and 8 at Saturday night’s meeting.

Gerard GuthrieGerard Guthrie

Gerard Guthrie

One of Australia’s leading greyhound racing journalists since 2000 with the Greyhound Recorder and now with Greyhound Racing Victoria. Part-owner 2013 Group 1 Paws Of Thunder winner Sheikha. (The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of GRV)

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