Aston Flame burning bright for Ian Garland

Last October's Group 3 Northern Districts Cup winner continued her rapid rise by notching her 11th win in her last 12 starts at last week's Team Teal dual-code meeting at Lord's Raceway.

A litter sister to the superstar Aston Rupee, who won the Group 1 Temlee last Saturday night at The Meadows, the rising three-year-old has been a revelation for Garland, who has country cups success on his mind.

While winning came quick for Aston Flame (by Kc And All out of Aston Miley) with victories in six of her first eight starts, the bitch has really hit her straps from last October onwards.

"She was really scared as a younger dog and it just took her a little while to get there," he said.

"She won her first start and a few early, but she took her time to get it all figured out.

"But she's certainly going well now."

Her batch of 11 wins from her last 12 starts have contributed to an overall race record of 18 wins and one placing from 28 starts.

Garland, a hairdresser by trade, who has been training dogs for 30 years, said it's the biggest winning streak he has found himself on with an individual dog.

"It's pretty exciting. There are country championships coming up at Shepparton this Monday, so she will be in there," he said.

"Hopefully she can win and from there we can go to The Meadows for a $25,000 final.

"That would be nice.

"But I'll be aiming her at the country cups. She sort of struggles past 450m, she just gets a bit tired after they go about 420m to 450m, she starts to have enough.

"Her brother Aston Rupee won the Group 1 on Saturday night and he is as strong as a bull.

"All the rest of the litter are strong, but I don't think any of the litter are as fast as her for 350m.

"(Last Thursday) she put them to the sword pretty well straight away."

Aston Flame, the Shepparton 385m track record holder (21.30sec), came close to adding a second track record in her previous win before last Thursday in the Cardross Memorial at Horsham.

She has won five of eight starts over 425m at Bendigo, and has won all but one of seven of her starts at Shepparton, making next month's cup race a logical target.

Garland, who has eight dogs in work, has enjoyed a solid start to 2022 with his kennel enjoying six wins and three placings from 11 starts, with Emerald Hill producing three of the victories, including two at The Meadows, and Aston Flame the other three.

He rates his former stayer Billy's Bake as the best greyhound he has trained.

The black dog won 24 times in 105 starts and was placed 39 times for earnings of $180,569, with the obvious standout his win in the 2017 Group 3 Chairman's Cup at Wentworth Park (720m).

While he believes Aston Flame, whose current earnings stand at $61,940, will unlikely reach those heights, he is confident there are some nice feature race wins in store for her around Victoria.

"I'm hoping she can win a country cup - if the cards fell our way she could easily do that," he said.

"So, Shepparton is the immediate goal."

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