By Gerard Guthrie, Greyhound Recorder.
By Gerard Guthrie, Greyhound Recorder.
Peter Presutto is bullish his boom stayer Without A Trace can make a triumphant return to Victoria in Saturday night’s Group 1 Sportsbet Topgun Stayers (730m).
Without A Trace, winner of 12 of her 21 starts and five from seven since stepping up to 700 metres, hasn’t been seen in action since sensational near-record victories in heat and final of the Group 2 Sydney Cup (720m) last month.
She hasn’t raced in her home state since winning the Victorian National Distance qualifier at The Meadows on August 14, after which she was runner-up to Topgun rival Ethanol Water in the Grand Final held in Queensland.
But the light Topgun preparation has been by design and as such is absolutely no concern to in-form Devon Meadows trainer Peter Presutto, eyeing just the second Group 1 celebration of his career.
“It’s exactly the same preparation as I gave her going into Sydney and all things being equal I’d expect her to do something similar!” Presutto warned.
If the striking white and black staying prodigy can replicate her airborne 41.35sec (heat) and 41.37 (final) Sydney Cup series romps, her Topgun rivals could be running for second.
It says plenty when Presutto compares Without A Trace favourably with his previous Group 1 golden girl Idolize, notably in terms of their “affectionate, gentle” temperaments.
While Idolize was an out-and-out speedster, Without A Trace has a staying pedigree, being a daughter of freakish multiple Group 1 winner Houdini Boy, and Presutto says she was always going to be something special.
“Early days, I knew she was very, very good,” he said.
“She started off in the Vic Breeders at The Meadows and ran third in the final to Tribeca, which won the Silver Bullet at The Meadows on Monday.
“This bitch can sprint too, if I trained her that way.
“The way she was running into the catching pen in her sprints showed how strong she was. She was three behind them going to the line and then four in front going into the pen.
“She flew over 595m at Sandown (33.82sec) and every time she’s stepped up in distance she’s just lapped it up.
“In her seven runs over ‘700’ she’s only had one flop in the (G3) Fireball.”
Without A Trace’s two defeats as a stayer have both come at the hands of Ethanol Water and the two are at the pointy end of Sportsbet’s Topgun market at $2.35 favourite and $5.50 respectively.
Presutto isn’t overly concerned with box five and his confidence only grew with the scratching of rails runner Firethorn.
“That changes things because Firethorn was probably the only one that could hold Without A Trace out,” he said.
“I don’t think the box is going to be a hindrance.
“Obviously, I’m hoping she can lead or lob second and then it’ll be hold your breath!”
Without A Trace is at the forefront of Presutto’s burgeoning association with successful father/son breeding duo Michael and Darren Puleio, also featuring promising Hooked On Scotch x Peggy Lu litter brothers Off The Chart (4 from 5) and On The Prowl (2 from 2).
“Mick and Darren are gentlemen, I couldn’t say a bad word about them,” Presutto said.
“I took an opportunity to take a dog for them that wasn’t much chop and they showed their gratitude by giving me another dog, which wasn’t much chop either!
“But Mick told me the next dog he gave me would be a good one and it was Without A Trace, so he was good to his word!”
