You wouldn’t blame Geoff Collins and partner Rosalyn Hume for being frustrated and a tad uptight with the stop-start career of Razor’s Edge.
But no, it’s been quite the contrary. They’ve shown the ‘patience of Job’ with their lightly raced but talent-laden charge, who’ll line up at Sale on Sunday night.
The Wattle Flat couple have been in the game too long to lose sight of the ball. And such virtue is now paying dividends.
Late last year, Razor’s Edge (May ’17 Cutting Edge x Enjoy) was being set for the G1 Sale Cup (650m) and looked right on target after beating eventual winner Roper River Jake at Sandown over 595m in a slick 33.90sec.
But those plans were thrown into turmoil after Razor’s Edge, who won seven of his first eight starts, sustained a serious leg injury winning that race. It was only his 13th start.
“He had to come back as good, or else he was going to be retired.”
“He pulled up ‘ordinary’ with a back muscle-related injury,” Collins said. “So, we just let him hang out for a while.
‘Hanging out’ meant 10 months (December-October) on the sidelines, but now Razor’s Edge is back with a vengeance.
“We took our time,” Collins added. “He had to come back as good, or else he was going to be retired.”
Razor’s Edge has returned in fine fettle with three wins and a second from five starts. He won twice over 350m at Healesville late last month before tasting success at The Meadows over 600m on November 11.
A year can be a long time in greyhound racing, but Razor’s Edge is now receiving a second chance to make it to the Sale Cup ‘starting grid’, with heats of the 650m group one series to take place on 20 December before the final on Boxing Day.
“We were determined to have another crack at it, and he’s better prepared this year,” Collins said. “We’re happy with where he’s at… We’ll wait and see what happens.”
Collins and Hume have been associated with Australian Cup winners Isa Brown (2002) and Zara Zulu (2012), and gifted speedster Aussie Infrared who won the 2017 G2 Maitland Cup and still holds Warrnambool’s 390m track record (21.62sec) set on February 14, 2017.
They also bred 2013 G1 Hume Cup winner Alpe D’Huez – named after the final mountain climb on cycling’s famed Tour de France.
But Collins says Razor’s Edge is “the fastest dog we’ve ever had”. And adds the stars mentioned above “wouldn’t get within lengths of him”.
A winner of 11 races from 18 starts, Razor’s Edge was bred by Collins and Hume, as were his sire (Cutting Edge) and dam (Enjoy).
They still have Cutting Edge (won 11 races) but are considering adopting him out, while the super-fast Enjoy (a half-sister of former sprint sensation Mogambo) passed away a couple of years ago.
Razor’s Edge lines up in a Sale Cup Prelude (650m) – Race 8 Box 6 at 8.12pm – on Sunday.
WATCH: Razor’s Edge (1) made it three wins from his past four runs with a last-start victory over 600m at The Meadows in 34.58sec.
