By Jordan Gerrans
Champion trainer Tony Brett believes a spell on the sidelines with injury will be the making of Group 1 Gold Bullion hopeful Orchestrate.
The gun Queensland chaser goes in searching of his maiden triumph at the highest level on Thursday evening at Albion Park with $300,000 on the line in the Final over 520 metres.
While most were enjoying the Christmas and New Year period recently, Brett and the son of Barcia Bale were feverishly working at their Grandchester kennel to get the black dog back to full fitness ahead of the 2021-22 TAB Golden Greys Summer Carnival.
The 2021 Group 3 Rockhampton Cup champion has returned in stunning fashion from the pin muscle injury, unbeaten in three attempts ahead of the Gold Bullion decider.
To get Orchestrate back to his best, Brett and his team provided him with laser and massage therapy in his couple of months away from the spotlight of the race track and the leading conditioner says the dog has come back fresh and with an extra zest.
“Sometimes those lay-offs can be blessings in disguise, as it has been as he has won all three runs back so far,” he said.
“He is going as good as ever, he has matured up and got more strength in his racing.
“While injuries are bad, sometimes they can end up being better in the long run when they come at the right time and give the dog a break.
“He has gone to that next level again.
“With young dogs, when they come back from those injury breaks, you can at times see them coming back stronger and better dogs.”
The multiple Group 1-winning trainer is not one to give too much away about his dogs but he is certainly excited about the prospect of Orchestrate through 2022.
“If we can keep him injury free from here, we are in for a massive year,” Brett said.
With a Listed and Group 3 race already on his resume, as well as being placed at Group 2 level, Orchestrate faces up to a classy field of dogs for the 2022 Gold Bullion crown, including John Finn’s Zipping Kyrgios, reigning Ipswich Gold Cup winner Louis Rumble and star dog Jungle Deuce.
Brett is happy to wear the black rug in the Final, an alley his fast dog has won from twice in four efforts.
“It is one of the hottest Group 1 Finals we have been in,” Brett said.
“There is great dogs in it all the way round and I am really happy with our draw out in the seven, but you could ask five other people as well and they would say they are happy with their draws in the race as well.
“Hopefully the five dogs inside tangle a little bit and Orchestrate will go straight out of the boxes towards that first turn, he won’t be looking for the rails early on.
“He uses that as a velodrome like in bikes and it is a matter of if anyone else has kicked up inside him and if he has crossed on the bunny, then you might hear me cheering.”
Of that excellent field of dogs, Brett is most wary of popular chaser Jungle Deuce, who has drawn box two.
Jungle Deuce won his maiden Group 1 in the Paws Of Thunder over 520 metres in front of a vocal Sydney crowd recently, which followed his complete domination of the Group 2 Golden Sands over 600 metres in Brisbane a fortnight earlier.
Orchestrate is rated a $4.60 chance with the TAB as of Tuesday afternoon with Zipping Kyrgios the $3.10 favourite for the Gold Bullion.
While Brett’s focus is on the Gold Bullion prize on Thursday night, he always has his eyes on his kennel’s next generation, trialling a handful of dogs around Albion Park for the first time in their fledgling careers on Tuesday morning.
From an array of litters, the dogs are all in the learning stage with Brett aiming to start them in maidens over the next two months, just like Orchestrate did in November, 2020.
While the trial itself was important for the pups, seeing Albion Park and all the facilities and familiarising the dogs with the surrounds is also a key part of their development.
“This is where they all start, all young dogs need their early education and to see the race track," he said.
“This is where they kick off and it is a matter of giving them experience around Albion Park so they hopefully end up here, where Orchestrate is, now in 12 months’ time.
“It is all about the different boxes and turns, getting around those, and then understanding what kind of dog you have in terms of the distance they can run.
“This early education is as important as race times, this is where we find out what we have got.”
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