Roberts & Johnson have a large team racing at Ascot Park
Peter Fenemor • October 14th, 2025 1:07 PM
The new season training partnership between Canterbury conditioners Matt Roberts and Jack Johnson has hit the ground sprinting.
Already the pair have been required to salute the judge with 57 winners too date with their UDR strike rate currently sitting at a respectable 0.4211 score.
Both young conditioners enjoyed training Group 1 winning stayers last season. Spearheading the team for Roberts, who was an Entain Greyhound Excellence finalist, was the back-to-back NZ Stayer of the Year, Chief Dribble.
And Johnson, who was the 2024/25 GRNZ Board Youth winner, became the youngest trainer to mentor a Duke Of Edinburgh Silver Collar winner when Opawa Corban prevailed last season.
The partners have accepted with 15 greyhounds for tomorrow’s Southland meeting, meaning that both trainers are traveling south to the world’s southernmost located greyhound track, Ascot Park. Owner Pete Calusen is part of the travelling team.
Johnson kindly took time out before embarking on the eight-hour trip south, to update us about their teams prospects.
Claws In Emperor (M3 R3): “He has definitely showed ability, after having some issues. He’s stepping up to 457m and we’re looking for him to run on.”
Fox On Fire (M3 R6): “He should have won on Tuesday. I believe the testing track got to him. He has plenty of upside about him.”
Adobe Rave (M3 R6): “She was unlucky last start after putting it all together in her previous race. She’s going down feeling as good as gold.”
Masenko (M3 R9): “She has come back great after having a freshen up. She’s a lid pinger who we expect to lead out from her good draw.”
Ultra Instinct (M3 R9): “This is her first look at 457m racing. We expect her to take improvement from the race.”
Adobe Ego (M3 R10): “That was a good run by her last week. We believe that she is better suited to Ascot Park rather than Addington.”
Beast Arising (M3 R10): “He’s a funny dog with there being two versions of him. He is capable of being right in the finish.”
Claws In Zorro (M13 R1): “He won really well at Cambridge last week. He loves the big tracks, and he’ll be hard to run down if he leads out.”
Let Him Cook (M13 R1): “We all know what he can do – look at the way he previously ran down Jerry Cola over 390m down there. We expect him to finish on.”
Maestro Mojito (M13 R2): “Having a freshen up, a change of scenery and dropping back to sprinting has worked out really good for him. He’s better over 457m and he’s really good at the moment.”
Has Potential (M13 R2): “It will be interesting to see how she races over 457m. She has pace, which she must use.”
Kamehameha (M13 R2): “He was unlucky last week after his prior impressive 457m win down there. He is capable of repeating.”
Bumrah’s Jadeja (M13 R3): “She recently won really good over 457m when stepping up in distance at Palmerston North. She’s capable of repeating that.”
Bit Of Bacardi (M13 R3): “She’s a hard dog to follow. Perhaps downgrading here will help her. On her best she can feature.”
Claws In Krypton (M13 R5): “He was very unlucky last start. He has a better draw, and he is a good winning chance.”
When asked who he considers their best winning prospect is, Johnson named Claws On Krypton, saying, “There are no rail painters in his race.”
He also considers that both Claws In Zorro and Let Him Cook hold strong claims in their 390m sprint.
Johnson suggests that Has Potential is their best value prospect, saying. “She has early pace which she can use to her benefit.”
Johnson also advises that both Chief Dribble and Opawa Corban are resting their paws at home following their recent strong northern campaigns, preparing for their next month’s Gr. 1 NZ Stayers Cup (732m) assignments.
