Grey Skies Over Dapto Maiden

WARREN and Jill Harper's exciting Barcia Bale – Little Grey litter continued its rise to prominence when Another Grey produced the standout performance in last Thursday's heats of the Group 3 Beteasy Dapto Maiden, while her brothers Willoughby and Finale were both victorious at Bulli on Saturday.

Another Grey started for the second time in the heats of the $25,000 to-the-winner Dapto Maiden, having run fourth in a Maitland 400m maiden on debut on July 5.

Drawn in box five in the last of five heats, Another Grey started at $5.40, behind joint $2.80 favourites My Halo and Fantastic Yankee.

Another Grey flew out from her middle alley to lead comfortably on the first turn and she raced clear in the back straight as she recorded a commanding five length victory over All About Andi in 29.96, only .03 outside Sunburst Highway's best of night 29.93.

"We thought she could win because she'd trialled really well at Dapto," trainer Warren Harper said.

"She trialled 29.86 and went 5.33 to the first mark.

"She had a season, so she's a bit behind the other dogs in the litter, like Willoughby. Willoughby is probably the best dog we've had for a long while, but Another Grey isn't that far behind and she'd be the next best in the litter.

"She hasn't had any field experience. She's been led twice and beaten both times, in a performance trial at Bulli and when she ran fourth at Maitland.

"After she was beaten at Maitland, Jill said we'll go back to Maitland for a maiden but I said we should trial her at Wenty and if she goes okay we'll get her ready for Dapto. She trialled about 30.39 at Wenty."

Another Grey was the only sub-30 heat winner, with the other four run-offs won by Bad Ronnie (My Bro Fabio – Book Of Days) in 30.04, Bugatti Speed (Barcia Bale – Bugatti Flyer) and Fantastic Hope (Fabregas – Light Fantastic), which both clocked 30.25, and He's All Shine (Barcia Bale – She's Scandalous) in 30.57.

After drawing box four in the second of Thursday's two semi-finals, Another Grey is the $2.70 favourite with Ladbrokes, ahead of fellow heat winners Bad Ronnie at $3.80 and Bugatti Speed at $5.50 from boxes two and seven respectively.

"She's probably in the hardest semi," Harper offered.

"There's a bit of pace in the race. The yellow (Magic Begins) has some speed but should go straight from the boxes and the two (Bad Ronnie) went 30.04 in its heat, so there's not a lot between them. The dog in the three (All About Andi) knocked over Jill's cousin Jason Fletcher's dog (Fantastic Yankee) in the heat, so I hope that doesn't happen again.

"I don't know whether she wants inside or outside yet, she hasn't had enough starts, but she's drawn in the middle again. We're not having much luck with boxes; Knockout Hero, another dog from the litter, drew four box fours in a row and then drew five at his next two starts.
"If she begins she should win but if she doesn't begin who knows what will happen."

At Bulli on Saturday night, Another Grey's litter brothers Willoughby, trained by Jill Harper, and Finale, prepared by Julie Fletcher, also continued the bright starts to their careers.

Willoughby ran 26.40 over 472m, his fifth win from seven starts and fourth in succession, while Finale posted 28.76 over 515m, improving his record to five from 11.

The June '16 litter also includes Knockout Hero, also trained by the Harpers, which was won three from 15, On The Bonnet (four from 15) and Lizzy Keen (four from 13).

"The Barcia Bale litter is Little Grey's second. Her first, to El Grand Senor, included El Magnifico (multiple Group finalist and Bulli track record holder) and Super Senor," Harper explained.

"There were eight pups in her third litter, to Black Magic Opal, but we sold them all to George Farrugia in Victoria.
About a week ago she had her fourth litter, three bitches to Fernando Bale, but I was hoping for a few more!

"The Barcia Bale litter is a terrific litter. Willoughby is a bloody good dog. He has a crook wrist so you can't put the work into him that you want to. He keeps pulling up dicky but he's getting a bit better. Knockout Hero is a good dog too but he's a complete lunatic."