Time to 'get on the Deuce' again

By Alex Nolan

Queensland punters have another chance to ‘get on the Deuce’ in a major boost for the Group 1 Gold Bullion series, which starts at Albion Park on Thursday night.  

After much deliberation, popular chaser Jungle Deuce and his equally popular Forbes-based trainer Jack Smith return to the Sunshine State, this time in search of back-to-back Group 1 wins.

Jungle Deuce sent punters wild at Wentworth Park on Saturday night when he railed through to win his maiden Group 1 in the Paws Of Thunder over 520m in front of a vocal Sydney crowd.

It followed his complete domination of the Group 2 Golden Sands over 600m in Brisbane a fortnight earlier.

He will now look to keep his perfect record at Albion Park in-tact, when he lines up in heat two (race five) of the $300,000 feature over 520m, which acts as a thrilling conclusion to the TAB Golden Greys Summer Carnival. 

Part-owner Brian Jaggers, who races Jungle Deuce in partnership with Clay Mawson, is yet to come down from the high of his star chaser cracking the big time at Wentworth Park.

Jungle Deuce took his career earnings beyond $440,000 when he beat home race favourite Wow in 29.52 seconds.

“We gave the liver a pretty good work out,” he said.

“It doesn’t get much better than winning a Group 1, it’s the pinnacle."

Jaggers and Mawson had plenty of friends and well-wishers to help them celebrate on Saturday night, many sporting 'Get on the Deuce' t-shirts to mark the occasion. 

“There’s only the two of us in it but we dragged a lot of people along for the journey and everyone had a terrific time," Jaggers said.

Jungle Deuce will jump from box three in his heat, where he’ll meet recent Queensland Derby winner Just A Sort (four), Golden Ticket runner-up Impact (eight) and fellow New South Welshman Flighty Fernando (one), among others.

“I’ve had a quick look at the field and he seems well boxed with the good dog (Impact) drawn in eight but we’ll just hope and pray, like we always do,” Jaggers said.

Jungle Deuce is no stranger to ‘The Creek’ having swept last year’s Flying Amy Classic Series, before downing Extra Malt in the Origin Greyhound Series Match Race to hand New South Wales the shield.

His romp in the Golden Sands made it five wins from as many starts in Brisbane. 

“We love coming up to Queensland, everyone does a great job up there and we’re so appreciative of the support,” Jaggers said.

A hectic program over the past month led to much discussion between Jaggers, Mawson and Smith before the trainer ultimately made the decision to return to Brisbane.

All three were mindful of not over-taxing the rising three-year-old, who lines up for his sixth start in as many weeks on Thursday.  

“As Jack says, ‘they’re not robots’ but this bloke is about as close as you’ll get,” Jaggers said.

“We just hope he doesn’t run out of batteries…he’s going to get beaten one day but let’s hope it’s not this week or the next.”

Jaggers has enjoyed every moment of racing greyhounds with Smith, who is considered one of the great characters of Australian greyhound racing.

“He’s as dry as a bone but he always has a joke. He’s terrific for us and a good ambassador for the industry,” Jaggers said.

“And it’s not just him, but his whole family.

"His daughter Mel puts in so much effort and has looked after us.

“And his lovely wife Maree is the guts of the whole thing. She too puts in plenty of work that goes unrecognised, but not by us.”