It’s hard to fathom that an 18-year-old could possibly train an Australian Cup winner, but Pearcedale’s Kayla Cottrell is every chance given she has the second favourite, Fernando Bluey, in Saturday night’s $429,000 final at The Meadows.
A brilliant beginner with nine wins from his past 10 starts, Fernando Bluey will have to overcome Box 6.
“He pulled up well from his run on Saturday night,” Kayla told RSN Breakfast this morning.
“He’s fit and well and has been working well during the week, so he’s right for tomorrow night.”
“It’s just a matter of putting him in the boxes. It’s all up to him.”
Kayla said Fernando Bluey’s reliability at box-rise is the key to his outstanding form patch.
“He’s a consistent dog and he’s got beautiful box manners,” she said.
“In his past 10 starts he’s run between 4.97sec and 5.07sec to the first section (at The Meadows and Sandown), so he’s just consistent and hopefully he can do it again tomorrow night.”
“There’s some good dogs in the race and it’s really just a matter of getting a break on them in the first 50 metres.”
Kayla became the youngest greyhound trainer to win a Group 1 race in Victoria when Fernando Bluey’s litter sister, Fernando Cazz, snared the $75,000 to-the-winner Group 1 Rookie Rebel (600m) at The Meadows on 12 February.
First prize in the Australian Cup is a life-changing $300,000, and Kayla’s rise to stardom has seen her land on the cover of the Australian Cup liftout in today’s Herald Sun.
Listen to this morning’s full interview on RSN below.
