Almost twelve months ago, trainer Ron
Ball was the toast of the nation when Metz Magic stormed home to win the
National Sprint Championship final, staged at Brisbane’s
Albion Park.
Originally
the second reserve but securing a start following scratchings of Perth sprinter
Pedrosa and Tonneli Bale from Melbourne, Metz Magic jumped from box five and
won in 30.04.
. The
sky looked the limit for the son of Bombastic Shiraz and Witheren’s Girl. And
whilst Metz Magic has won 9 of his 21 starts since that National Championship,
Ball has had more than his fair share of problems, injury wise, with the dog.
Metz
Magic was sidelined from March this year until he resumed a few weeks ago with
a second placing in a heat of the group 1 Winter Carnival Cup at Albion
Park to Hanson Senor.
Ball
had Metz Magic engaged in the ‘’Best Eight’’ at Albion Park
tonight but has had to scratch the dog.
‘’He
pulled up sore again after a hitout here at home,’’ Ball said.
‘’He
had a damaged bone in a hock, it appeared as though it had calcified and
healed. But when he pulled up sore, I had a catscan done to try and unearth
what problem might still be there. It appears to be some ligament damage. It
breaks your heart because I know just what he is capable of when fully fit. You
can’t mollycoddle them, you have to work them and these things are sent to
test us.’’
Ball
said he will nominate Metz Magic for this year’s National Sprint Championship,
which sees heats at Albion Park
in a fortnight on Thursday, August 2. The grand final is being staged
in Hobart, on Saturday, August 25.
Nominations close this Monday, July 23 for the heats in each state.
‘’I don’t know
whether Metz Magic will be right for the heats but I’ll put a nom in anyway and
hope things fall into place,’’ Ball stated.
‘’I suppose I’m
lucky that I’ve got a good team going around at the moment.’’
Despite having
to scratch Metz Magic tonight, Ball still has seven runners at the Albion
Park meeting. And he says most of
them will be nominated for the National Sprint series.
‘’Cakes and Pies
is competitive at any level. And I’ve had a bit of luck tonight with box one
draws for Degas Vegas, Bellagio Lad and Tough As.’’
‘’Degas Vegas is
an underrated dog. He’s lived most of his life in bad box draws. That makes it
tough because he’s a real keen railer. They will beat him for early speed
tonight but he will hunt them all the way, using his rails draw,’’ Ball
predicts.
Degas Vegas
lines up in one of the strongest third and fourth grade fields assembled for
quite some time. It’s race five and features Reg Kay’s last start Grafton
winner Knocka Down and Geoff Allen’s recent 29.94 Albion Park winner and group
one finalist Hanson Senor.
Story by Paul
Dolan. Photo (Ron Ball with Metz Magic),
by Corey Pearce.
