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  • Thursday, 31 Dec, 2020,
  • by Gerard Guthrie

Braemar Prince set to Sizzle

Bendigo trainer Mark Strahan believes lightly-raced speedster Braemar Prince, flying winner of six of his seven starts, is good enough to win Saturday night’s Silver Chief Classic.

But instead of chasing Group 1 glory and a $100,000 winner’s purse at The Meadows, Braemar Prince will be in action at Warrnambool, where he’s unbeaten in two appearances, including a near-record 21.79s performance over 390m.

Braemar Prince will be chasing his seventh straight victory when he exits box three in the second of three heats of the Summer Sizzle, with the winner of next Saturday’s final to receive $10,000.

“I definitely think he could’ve won the Silver Chief,” said Strahan.

“He’s a very fast dog and has so much early pace but he’s had a lot of problems with metacarpals. Otherwise he’d be the real deal.

“He could lead a Silver Chief or an Australian Cup around the first bend but I’ve trialled him three times at The Meadows and each time he’s pulled up sore.

“He’s had 12 days off since his last trial there but that won’t worry him on Saturday.

“I can’t put the work into him and I don’t want to ruin him. I’m hoping in time he’ll get over the 500m but if he doesn’t there’s still plenty of options, including the (country) cups.”

While Braemar Prince hasn’t raced since a best of day Horsham 410m romp on December 8, Strahan expects him to prove very hard to beat in his return to Warrnambool.

WATCH: Braemar Prince win his last start at Horsham from box three.

“You’d think so!” he quipped confidently.

“When I took him to Warrnambool previously it was only the ninth or tenth time he’d been on a racetrack. I said to a few people he’d go close to the record and got some funny looks but he was only two and a half lengths off it.

“He’s a great chaser and really wants to be a race dog. He just does everything right.

“Right from day one he showed plenty of ability. He was running what Group 1 dogs run at Bendigo when he was only 16 or 17 months old.”

Strahan purchased Braemar Prince, an October ’18 son of Barcia Bale, from breeder Andrea Gurry at three months of age for what now appears to be a bargain price of $4000.

“I moved from Melbourne about ten years ago to look after my mum,” Strahan explained.

“We’ve only got one mother and she’s in a nursing home now so I’ve got a bit more time.

“I keep a couple of dogs in the back yard. The only other dog I’ve got in work at the moment is a Kinloch Brae pup that hasn’t raced yet.

“I’ve also got a bitch in Adelaide called Priscilla Wang that I’m going to breed with. She’s a litter sister to a dog called Who Cry Now that I sold for $31,000 at the Bendigo Auction last year.”

Braemar Prince about to cross the line in one of his victories at Horsham. Photo by Daniel Thorogood.
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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