Peco Can Primed For Puppy Clash

Extraordinary galloper Peco Can will face her own age group when she takes on a classy field in the much-anticipated George & Eileen Johnston Puppy Championship (452m) this Tuesday afternoon at Devonport.

With two feature wins this year, namely the Tasmanian Breeders Classic and Young Star Classic, both at Hobart, the 28-kilo brindle bitch tackles Devonport Breeders Classic winner Buckle Up Axon for trainer Gary Johnson.

Buckle Up Axon, winner of 4 from 4 over the track and distance at Devonport, was a solidly backed favourite at his last start just a fortnight ago.

In a remarkable exhibition of chasing, the well-bred son of Buckle Up Wes and America Bale railed strongly underneath Hello Rhonda, eventually running out a two-length winner to register a sizzling 25.54 in the classic final.

"We were bound to run into him (Buckle Up Axon) eventually," Robin Grubb quipped, trainer of Peco Can.

"I've always had a huge opinion of Gary's dog since the first time I've watched him race, his run throughout the Breeders Classic was enormous. The dog can show a lot of wheel, so it will it make for a great race that's for sure.”

Peco Can, the September '16 daughter of Fernando Bale and Sing The Song, has been a formidable star on the racing scene in Tasmania for the best part of six months.

The racing world took full notice of this brilliant chaser when making her  debut at Devonport in top class fashion, before setting Hobart on fire at her second start when running a near track record run of 25.55 for the 461-metre trip.

Peco Can has faced defeat only twice in her impressive 12 start career, which has seen her bounce back on a four-start winning streak, form that has seen her regarded as one of the hottest young pups in the country.

"She ran into all sorts of both that day and when she got tangled up with Tax Man Wins it sort made harder in the race through I would of like to have raced her in the heats, it's sort of given her a week to build and I can say she is jump out of her skin ready to go," told Robin.

The St. Leonards-based trainer will have a trio lining up in Tuesday's feature with Peco Can's litter-mates Hello Rhonda and Hello Lenny drawn out in boxes seven and eight. Grubb is pleased with their current progress.

"Hello Rhonda (seven) is in great form of late and I couldn't be any prouder of her run (second) in the Breeders Classic behind Buckle Up Axon. When she led it was going to take a good dog to run her down on the day and Axon was surprisingly strong," Grubb said.

"Hello Lenny (eight) is going through just a bit of a dark patch athis last few starts. Prior to that he was really pinging the lids and now he has missed it a couple of times and made a few bad judgments, I'm hoping he will turn around soon.

"Peco Can (five) has won three races from box five and both her and Buckle Up Axon are straight runners at the start, it's really down to who will get the lucky break in the first few metres. If the two come out on their own it will make for a great race.”

The 29^th running of the George & Eileen Johnston Puppy Championship is race five on Tuesday's program at Devonport, with the race set jump at 1.47pm.