Actually I was talking about Quick Jagger, not Tritt Tritt

It's obvious he is going to be a 700m star as well

Quick Jagger - so far has shown that 700 is a bit far for him.
Tritt Tritt - very promising but unproven over 700.
Rippin Sam - slow early, average times, seems unlikely to improve further but will be a more than useful stayer.
Toranado Tears - brilliant but just starting off. Please wait.

Their opposition? Mostly very ordinary.

Mark, re "when he comes up against dogs with a lot more ability" - there are no such animals, mate, only ones with more experience but which cannot run time.

I am not sure what dog you are looking at, but I would suggest a trip to Spec Saver should be on the agenda

Big call on Rippin' Sam
Not sure if you saw the race Bruce that Toranado was in last start but it was pretty ordinary including a few t3 dogs.
I said I'm looking forward to the next 12 month of staying races.
I'd say their is dogs with massive staying ability on the way up
Magic Will: handful of starts 37.49 Bendigo
Pepper Shiraz: Handful of starts broke track record 650m shep last nite
Leprechaun Storm: Flying times over 600m building to its debut over 715m sandown Tuesday
Bella Shima: Can run flying times and hopefully gets a chance to get to 715m this time in

Not irrational at all. The facts generally support you.

Small correction - in the race context, the greyhound achieves its highest average speed at around 435m.

And, yes, quite a few smart distance dogs will run early times equivalent to sprinters - eg 720 dogs at Wenty running 280m times for the 1st section.

Rippin Sam - last night he allowed himself to be shuffled back then did little until nearing the home turn, then swamped all the leaders to win running away. Those leaders all faded, including Jagger, so he looked better than he really was. Still, a good solid run in 41.70 (a time which many of them have run). As I said earlier, a genuine stayer but has his limits.

And, I stand to be corrected, but my theory is that well conditioned 700m dogs walking to the boxes know they are facing a tough trip, not just a romp in the park. The exceptions are the ones which jump in front and hopefully hang on - ie smart chasers but not really strong types, but they win a lot of races when the opposition can't finish off.

One hope - there seems to be snippets of strength emerging from some of the American breeds now coming through. Where will that lead?

Dunno. Not my field.

Trapeze Artist is a Tbred sprinter (Group winner) and a lazy track worker and gets beaten by maiden horses in track work, but hes bloody good and worth $20 Million at stud.

The colour of the glasses is always worth considering.

However, also consider that generally speaking today's sprinters are often running up to and breaking track records. Very occasionally, that happens with 600m dogs but virtually never with 700m dogs. There is a gradient there.

This accords with many comments over recent months about a lack of strength over 500m and the rapid growth of 400m races as a proportion of the total.

Over the last couple of years or so there has not been a stayer that would stay on the same page with Space Star, Sweet It Is or Miata.

Then you have the example of Xylia Allen which could do brilliant things over any distance - once. It could never back up 7 days later - never. It broke the 720m record at Wenty then compounded on the home turn a week later. This points to a need to look more closely into how various dogs are built.

Go further and you can find quite a few dogs that can stay but not in good enough time. They are plodders (humans are the same).

Some maintain that it is just part of the cycle but there is a lot of evidence that the upturn is not happening, nor is it likely to under today's circumstances. Why is for greater minds than mine to work out.

Spec Savers have some special offers

EXTERNAL LINK

PS hope my kids don't see this my daughter is a lawyer would not go down well?

I don't Specsavers were around when the Cavemen were travelling the earth LOL

"Not sure if you saw the race Bruce that Toranado was in last start but it was pretty ordinary including a few t3 dogs".

Exactly, but that's the norm these days although it is hard to tell with a few in WA. I still liked the way it finished off the race - the litter obviously have strength.

The old folk's home is littered with 600m dogs that could not handle the 700s but we can hope. Keep watch.

I don't recall Octagonal racing against "T3" horses. And, yes, the prime objective of a good pack animal is to make sure it stays in front of the rest (which is also why we sometimes get fighting convictions).

However, my view, and my observation over decades, is that the idea is to achieve excellence. How do you measure that? By consistency, by strength, by durability and by speed. But mainly by speed. How did it run during education? What did it trial? With maturity, has it run faster? What info is shown on a sire's advertisement? What influences punters? Times, times, times. All that is what trainers and breeders talk about.

And, actually, some folk do offer bonuses for record breakers. Maybe there should be more?

Back to the starting subject. Are Torando Tears and Rippin Sam the same? No way. On evidence so far, Toranado would murder it. The ability to almost equal Miata's record is huge. Maybe that will change, but I doubt it.

Anyway, both are contributing to some improvement in the staying caper. The interesting thing is the sire was flat out getting 500m, so thanks mum.

Last night Tritt Tritt faded over 715m. Did the same at earlier 720m run at WPK. So did Leprechaun Storm. Pepper Shiraz was injured.

Tornado Tears ran really well over 595m (on return from injury).

Both 715m races won in ordinary time (42.2 - 15 lengths outside record). Most dogs faded.

Ebby Ripper has one quality - it finishes on. Full stop.