It turned into the perfect homecoming for Tiggerlong Tonk at WaggaWagga on Thursday night, when the Victorian-trained star blitzed his rivals in a heat of the TAB Million Dollar Chase series.
Trained by Correy Grenfell near Ballarat, due to COVID-19 restrictions, Tiggerlong Tonk was sent to a caretaker trainer in Wagga, the man who owns the dog, Michael Finn.
Apart from being the owner, Finn also bred and broke in Tiggerlong Tonk before sending him south to be trained, and that strategy worked well with the dog performing with distinction at the elite level over the past year, placing in Group 1s, and winning at Group 2 level.
On Thursday night he was making his racing debut at Wagga, but the track was anything but foreign to him due to his upbringing, and he had no problems at all reacquainting himself with the track, spearing to the lead and racing away to score by 8½ lengths in 30.00s.
“He went good for the first time around here,” Finn said. “They usually get a little bit lost and I think he might have in a few spots, but he went good.”
Asked if he thought the dog would improve next week in the Regional Final, Finn replied: “I think he would. It’s a bit tricky to get around Wagga and you need a few runs.”
Second was Rod McDonald’s Sell More Houses, with Andrew Mulrine’s With Confidence battling on well for a close-up third.
The placings, or result didn’t really have too much significance, as all the runners in the lone heat advanced to next week’s Regional Final, where the first three make their way into the MDC semi-finals at Wentworth Park on October 9.
The box draw for the final is: 1 Canya Chase 2 Maximum Refusal 3 Sell More Houses 4 Gentleman Thief 5 With Confidence 6 Tiggerlong Tonk 7 Tony’s Rescue 8 Run Fast Maximum 9 Sunset Conswala.
