He’s the headline dog of the Ladbrokes Gold Muzzle Auction race series and with good reason.
Flying Ricciardo, who counts his namesake, F1 champ Dan Ricciardo amongst his followers, is one of the shortest favourites in a feature race in recent years as he attempts to claim the $40,000 winner’s cheque in the Ladbrokes Gold Muzzle Auction final at Wentworth Park on Saturday night.
For owner-trainer Kristy Sultana, his win in the Gold Muzzle Auction Heat last Saturday was a massive relief.
“After what happened at the first turn in the Million Dollar Chase final, I was just happy that he came out running and charged through that first turn which proved that he’d taken no harm from the bad check he got there the week before,” said Sultana.
It’s now well documented that Sultana purChased Flying Ricciardo (Barcia Bale x Megalodon) at the inaugural Gold Muzzle Puppy Auction in June 2019 as a six-month old pup for $7,500, and since then, he’s been responsible for creating headlines and exposure across so many media outlets.
From Channel 9 News stories to Dan Ricciardo and his followers jumping on board and supporting him through social media, Flying Ricciardo is one of those ‘feel-good’ stories that our industry needs to attract new participants.
“I love the whole process of the Gold Muzzle Puppy Auction,” said Sultana
“We’d heard that Lynne and Brandon Aldous had been educating the pups up the straight at Richmond from that young age and when we looked at them on the day, they were outstanding types.”
“The fact we could inspect the dogs on the day and see how they interacted with people was a bonus but so too is the fact that you can buy a pup from the Gold Muzzle Auction and then you are eligible to compete in a Race Series with the terrific prizemoney attached to it is just another reason we’ll be back there next year to try and buy another Ricciardo.”
Kristy Sultana said there had already been enormous interest in Flying Ricciardo as a Stud dog but at the moment, their only focus is the racetrack.
“We don’t think it’s possible to combine racing and Stud duties, so as long as he comes through Saturday night ok, we’ll then target the G1 Megastar at Dapto and we’ll re-assess After that – if and when he’s a Stud dog proposition we’ll worry about that at the time but we’re just enjoying the ride at the moment.”
Flying Ricciardo is currently quoted at $1.18 to claim the Gold Muzzle Auction race series final and even if he does salute, the minor prize money attached to the Final is still outstanding with $10,000 for second; $3,000 for third; and all unplaced runners receiving $500.
Gold Muzzle Auctions Managing Director, Mark Duclos, said an announcement as to the confirmed date for the 2021 Gold Muzzle Puppy Auction will be made in the following weeks.
“We’ve already had substantial enquiries from breeders looking to enter their pups into the next Auction as well as an enormous increase in enquiries from prospective purChasers looking to hopefully buy another Flying Ricciardo next year – along with our partner, GRNSW, we’ll make that announcement very shortly to enable us to activate a targeted Advertising and Marketing campaign,” said Duclos.
The Ladbrokes Gold Muzzle Auction race series final is Race 7 at Wentworth Park on Saturday night and is due to jump at 8.22pm AEDT.
