Form expert The Watchdog has bravely predicted Bendigo’s 425m track record will be broken in Saturday night’s pulsating Group 2 Chasers Function Bendigo Cup heats. Eight ‘sudden death’ heats, chockful of stars, will be held, with champion four-time Cup-winner Jason Thompson boasting the two favourites in TAB’s ‘All in’ market in Rebellious at $6 and Typhoon Sammy at $6.50. Both boast outstanding records, with Rebellious winning 13 from 18 and Typhoon Sammy 15 from 22, with the NSW import unbeaten in four starts for the powerful Thompson team. The Watchdog…
Author: Editor BOAY
Abela’s ‘Star’ to shine at Warragul
Paul Abela’s attention will be divided on Saturday night, with Group-winning stayer Five Star the headline act at Warragul, while Aston Lee and Auspicious Queen will take their place in the Group 2 Bendigo Cup heats. Winner of the G3 Lizrene Speed Star (715m) at Sandown Park and Pink Diamond Champion Distance series at Bendigo in June, Five Star has returned to his brilliant best in recent weeks after his form tapered off following a Brisbane campaign, where he ran fourth in the G1 Queensland Cup. “He came back from…
Nikoli Bale Grenfell’s Bendigo best
Young Anakie trainer Correy Grenfell and wife Samantha are taking aim at back-to-back victories in the Group 2 Chasers Function Centre Bendigo Cup (425m) after Yozo Bale and superstar Tiggerlong Tonk ran the quinella in 2020. On that occasion, Yozo Bale upstaged more fancied kennelmate Tiggerlong Tonk, with track record-holder Shima Shine finishing third and Hard Style Rico, which went on to win the G1 Melbourne Cup, fourth. Yozo Bale, which also won the Ballarat Cup last December and was runner-up in both the Geelong and Warrnambool Cups this year,…
Daily Mail: ‘Jack’ to top rivals at The Meadows
The Watchdog is confident that G1 finalist Hill Top Jack (15 from 39) will be victorious in today’s hotly-contested $12,000 to-the-winner Grade 5 600m final at The Meadows. Group finalists Aston Lavinia and Riccarton Rick (won last 2), plus Invictus Rising (11 from 27), are considered the main threats to Hill Top Jack according to The Watchdog. Daph’s Zac v Tiberia Bale (2 from 5 Box 3) v Westar Aileen v Kasemi (3 of last 7) should be an even affair along with Group finalists Knicks Bale (3 of last…
Bendigo blitz ‘Music’ to Carter’s ears
A near-record return to the track has Kialla trainer Mick Carter aiming high with classy Group 2 Chasers Function Centre Bendigo Cup (425m) contender Music Event. At his first start since August 15, Music Event, which was runner-up in the G1 Brisbane Cup in July to fellow Victorian Equalizer, scorched around Bendigo in a blistering 23.357sec, only .005sec outside former superstar Shima Shine’s track record established in last year’s Cup heats. The son of Lochinvar Marlow and Jazzy Lou defeated 2020 Bendigo Cup champion Yozo Bale by 6.5 lengths in…
Cups king headlines stellar Bendigo cast
Ferdinand Boy will have to overcome Box 5 – a draw the superstar sprinter is well-acquainted with – in Saturday night’s sensational Group 2 Chasers Function Centre Bendigo Cup heats (425m) if he’s to earn a crack at a remarkable fourth country cup crown. Already the winner of the Shepparton, Ballarat and Healesville Cups in 2021, Ferdinand Boy, trained by David Geall at Lara, will wear the yellow vest in the fifth of eight cut-throat Bendigo qualifiers, where picket-fence form-lines are everywhere you look. Ferdinand Boy has won 29 of…
Daily Mail: ‘Lad’ to stay hot at Sandown Park?
Today marks 50 days until the TAB Melbourne Cup – the world’s greatest greyhound race – takes place and to commemorate the occasion, a $10,000 to-the-winner 515m Special Event highlights the Sandown Park meeting. McCooly’s Lad (8 from 12 – 29.09sec PB) has won all three starts since returning from a nine-month layoff in August, but The Watchdog believes he is awkwardly drawn today. G3 winner Barooga Smoke (5 from 8 Trk/Dst) has been selected to triumph in this outstanding race, but other Group winners Lakeview Walter (3 from 6…
Counting the days – all 50 of them!
A TAB Melbourne Cup may have escaped the hands of Brooke and Jamie Ennis in the past but that has only made their desire stronger. “The Melbourne Cup is something everyone wants to win – it’s the pinnacle of greyhound racing,” Ennis said. “We breed and buy pups in hope of a Melbourne Cup winner.” Thursday marks 50 days until the TAB Melbourne Cup and race eight celebrates the occasion. Ennis prepares track specialist Barooga Smoke (pictured) who will jump from box one – a box that has seen him…
TAB Great Chase Gippsland
Today, the second TAB Great Chase event for 2021 was held via Zoom, in support of Victoria’s disability sector. More than 30 community groups based across Gippsland logged on to watch the races, and for the chance to share in $2,500 in prize money. In 2021, the Great Chase is being conducted virtually due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. However, the pandemic did not stop groups sharing in the fun, including cheering on greyhounds that had been randomly allocated to them. The community group that walked away with the top…
Incredible response to Battler’s Cup again
The second edition of the Battler’s Cup at Bendigo received an incredible 94 eligible entries – the response from trainers such that the entire race meeting at Bendigo tonight is made up of 12 heats of the tier 3 event. The eight fastest heat winners will progress to the $5,000 to-the-winner final on Bendigo Cup night – Saturday 16 October – while the four slowest heat winners and four fastest second placegetters will qualify for the Battler’s Cup Consolation worth $2,100 to the winner. “The response to last year’s inaugural…