Lightly raced speedster Aston Jupiter is still learning his craft, but trainer Graeme Jose expects the blueblood to win Sunday’s GRV Vic Bred Series Grade 5 final (440m) at Sale, with one proviso.
“If he steps, he wins the race,” said Jose bullishly.
Greyhounds don’t come with better breeding than Aston Jupiter, with his sire 2017 G1 Melbourne Cup hero Aston Dee Bee and his mother champion stayer Sweet It Is, a multiple G1 winner.
But early on it appeared Aston Jupiter’s regal bloodlines would count for little, with below par pre-training reports landing him in ‘no man’s land’ for four months before owner Ray Borda called on G1-winning Catani mentor Graeme Jose.
“Ray (Borda) asked me to have a go with him and we put lots of time into him, plenty of pats and attention,” Jose explained.
“I like the dog. He’s a damn hard chaser and he’s that keen he rams the front of the boxes trying to get out. He doesn’t always time the start but when he does, he begins beautifully.”
The winner of three from nine, Aston Jupiter didn’t get the start right from box six in last weekend’s Sale heats, but he ran home strongly to finish second, beaten only half a length, and Jose says the move to box one is a huge plus for the $3300 to-the-winner final (Race 7 at 6.32pm).
“He was badly boxed last week and the thing I really liked was that he went around other dogs, which he wouldn’t do originally,” Jose explained.
“He’s a mad railing dog – probably the worst I’ve ever had – and early days it was just fence, fence, fence!