Ninetymile King Making A Middle Distance Impression

NINETYMILE King  is a greyhound quickly capturing the imagination of the Queensland racing public.

Unleashing brilliant run homes which took him all the way to the Group 1 Gold Bullion Final (520m) last month, the son of My Bro Fabio has made a spectacular transition to 600 metre racing, landing back-to-back powerhouse wins in 35.03 and 35.02.

Trained by Bianca Whitford, Ninetymile King has won nine of his 22 appearances, giving every impression he's a potential star stayer in the making.

"People were encouraging us to step him up to 600 metres earlier but we wanted to give him a shot at the Gold Bullion," Whitford said.

"He did us proud making the group 1 final and to finish fifth behind the likes of Shima Shine, Crazy Cool and Tommy Shelby was a great result. He's by far the hardest chaser I've ever had anything to do with."

Having to overcome a slight bout of the kennel cough, Ninetymile King's preparation for his recent 600 metre assignments was anything but ideal, scoring on talent and will above all else.

"He's only had the two 600 races but looks like he's developing a pattern of dropping back and getting to the outside," Whitford said.

"Both runs he's probably struck the front a little bit earlier than expected and having had just two starts in six weeks he probably doesn't have the fitness to really go on with it yet."

Whitford is slowly ramping the dog's work up at home with aspirations of another distance jump in the future.

"Now he's clear of any issues from the kennel cough the plan is to give him a bit more work each week in order to press on and try him over 700 metres eventually," she said.

"The long-term plan is to have him ready for a crack at the Group 1 Queensland Cup in June/July. And there's some nice races in the build up with the Origin Distance and the Dashing Corsair which would be ideal lead-ins."

A former Victorian, Whitford has made sure to remember where it all began at the famous Ninetymile Beach on the Gippsland coast.

"We used to live a short drive from Ninetymile Beach when we were in Victoria and would take the dogs there for a walk in the water every week," she added.

"We thought it fitting we name him and a few others after the beach – hence Ninetymile.

"Unfortunately you can't build a facility like that on your property, the dogs get so much out of it.

"In saying that the move to Queensland has been everything we'd hoped for. We've established ourselves at Capalaba and are hoping to have a few follow in Ninetymile King's footsteps and get to Albion Park."