Buoyed by a sensational Shepparton debut from homebred talent Tinker Norm, Craig Burns has his sights set on hot favourite Rejuvenate in Saturday night’s $17,215 Shepparton Classic Final (450m).
Two heats of the Classic were held on Monday night, with potential superstar Rejuvenate scorching away with the opening run-off in a near-record 24.75sec, only .10 outside Mr. Audacious’ benchmark.
It was the Paul Brown-trained Rejuvenate’s 14th win from 17 starts and fourth from five 450m appearances at Shepparton, where he won the G3 Northern Districts Cup last November.
But Tinker Norm lost little in comparison when taking out the second heat in 24.96sec, without the benefit of a Shepparton trial, upstaging Rejuvenate’s litter and kennel mate Hot Scotch, the $1.60 favourite.
“I was elated he broke ‘25’,” Craig Burns said.
“Only the good dogs can do that, so he’s elevated himself.
“We’ve got Hot Scotch twice now – ‘Norm’ also finished in front of him in a (G1) Silver Chief heat – but his brother might be a different scenario!
“Tinker Norm is a lovely dog to train. He’s so placid with his temperament and demeanour, but he’s got white line fever.”
A January ’21 son of Orson Allen and Gawker Bale, also bred and raced by Balliang-based Burns, Tinker Norm has won 11 of his 21 starts, including five of his last seven, and was a reserve for the Silver Chief Final in December.
Form expert The Watchdog has rated Rejuvenate (box 6) $1.70 favourite for Saturday’s $11,440 to-the-winner Classic – race 8 at 8.04pm – ahead of Tinker Norm (box 5) at $6 and Hot Scotch (box 4) $6.50.
WATCH: TINKER NORM (B7) was a scorching 24.96sec debut winner at Shepparton in a Classic heat on Monday night, upstaging odds-on favourite Hot Scotch (B4) and G1 finalist LAWLESS (B2).
“I’d like to say we can win it; he’s definitely got the motor to win,” said Burns.
“I think there’s four or five dogs with a legitimate chance, but there’s one freak we’re all worried about. Rejuvenate is a superstar.
“I’m glad we’ve drawn underneath Rejuvenate, as long as we get out on terms or better than him.
“Michelle Mallia‘s dog, Minor Ash, goes pretty quick early, so it would be nice to be sitting outside it and push Rejuvenate as wide as we can around the first turn and hopefully pinch a couple of lengths on him.
“If Rejuvenate gets a clear run all the way, the run home is my big concern.
“But this is the first feature-type final we’ve been in, so we’re just thrilled to be in it.”
After undertaking a dramatic lifestyle change, Burns, 49, and wife Jennifer have made an almost immediate impression with their ‘Tinker’ greyhounds, only buying their first dog, Tinker Bob, named after Craig’s father, in 2015.
“Jennifer and I were both licensed estate agents,” Craig explained.
“For 27 years I wore a suit to work six days a week and now I’m a professional dog poop picker-up! That’s what it feels like, anyway.
“But we absolutely love it. Our children are grown up, so the dogs are our kids now.
“We set up to breed and rear about five years ago and now we’re doing the whole lot! The harder I work, the luckier I get, is a theory I follow.
“Since we’ve started training them, about 18 months ago, Tinker Norm is the best I’ve put a lead on.
“Tinker Craig is probably the best-credentialled race dog we’ve had so far. He made the (G2) Ballarat Cup Final (2020) and the Pink Diamond (Champion Sprinter, 2021), against Aston Rupee and the like. Tinker Craig and Tinker Norm are out of the same dam (Gawker Bale).
“But I don’t think it will be too long before ‘Norm’ gets in front of ‘Craig’. He only turned two on Australia Day and I know I’ve still got improvement in him.
“People were asking me why I didn’t go down the Australian Cup path and it was because he’s just two. If he goes like a jet on Saturday night, the Shepparton Cup is coming up and the Ballarat Cup is on the back of that.”
Saturday’s Shepparton meeting also features the Matchmakers Final (450m) for the females – race 6 at 7.25pm.
The two heat winners were Aston Honey, trained by Ben Magri, in 25.31sec, and Ashlee Terry’s One More Burn in 25.44sec.
