Author: Editor BOAY

After running a deceptive last start sixth in the Group 3 Speed Star, Zipping Hamish is primed to return to the winners list at Warragul on Saturday night, according to trainer Carolyn Jones. A son of Jones’ champion 2010 Melbourne Cup winner El Grand Senor, Zipping Hamish actually won his Speed Star match race at The Meadows in a fast 29.84s, but finished unplaced behind winner Christo Bale on overall times. Zipping Hamish has won only once in four appearances at Warragul but clocked a flying 25.55s on that occasion…

Catch The Thief has secured himself a ticket into the Group 1 Adelaide Cup after his second close finish in a match race series in as many weeks. Although Catch The Thief won his match race convincingly over Alfieri, 0.002 seconds separated the match race series victory at Angle Park over Golden Night. Victorian’s have claimed the past six Adelaide Cup, which includes last years winner Hooked On Scotch. Catch The Thief, who is trained by Matthew Clark when in Victoria is currently in the care of Petar Jovanovic.

Victoria’s elite sprinting brigade are making their presence felt in the Million Dollar Chase series. Australian Greyhound of the Year Simon Told Helen has qualified for the MDC semi-finals after a clean sweep at Temora (457m) – heat (25.83sec) and final (26.16sec). Ditto, the explosive Shima Shine – runner-up in last year’s MDC grand final – who was sensational in his near-record heat win (25.82sec), followed by a 25.87sec final victory at Bulli (472m). And tomorrow night, they should be joined by champion counterpart Tiggerlong Tonk who competes in an…

Mark Ruff is no stranger to success on the racetrack, being a part-owner of 2017 thoroughbred Melbourne Cup winner Rekindling, while he was also involved in the ownership of runner-up Johannes Vermeer for good measure. “That was the first time I’ve had a Melbourne Cup runner and they ran one-two. Mind you, I’ve owned horses for 30 years and had plenty of slow ones,” Ruff said. While it took decades to celebrate victory in the race that stops the nation, Ruff hasn’t had to wait nearly as long to unearth…

Young Kiwi ex-pat James Shaw, 30, departed the ‘land of the long white cloud’ for the ‘lucky country’ in 2013. Shaw had accepted a job offer as a kennel hand at one of Victoria’s biggest and most successful greyhound training operations. Consequently, during the past seven years, Shaw has been accustomed to handling Jeff Britton and Angela Langton’s greyhounds on some of the sport’s biggest stages. Shaw – husband of GRV communications and content ‘Golden Girl’ Molly Haines – still makes the short drive each day from Lara to Anakie…

Can champion Victorian sprinter Catch The Thief ‘steal’ a spot in the Group 1 Adelaide Cup? That’s the salivating prospect – and a $5000 first prize – on offer for the overall winner (based on overall times) in the TAB SA Match-Race Series over 515 metres at Angle Park tonight. The overall winner from the four match races is guaranteed a spot (if they accept) into the G1 Adelaide Cup on October 9. Catch The Thief’s charismatic trainer Matt Clark is confident he will and thinks he can break the…

Newinn Taylor, a grandson of Australian greyhound Crash, took out the 2020 Irish Derby last weekend. Crash (Brett Lee x Elusive Rebel) won 12 of his 20 race starts and long held a track record at Horsham over the old 480m distance when clocking the incredible time of 26.68sec. He was part of a powerful litter which included champion sire Where’s Pedro and 2004 Melbourne Cup winner Hallucinate. Other Aussie greyhounds featuring prominently in Newinn Taylor’s bloodlines include Ace Hi Rumble (Warrnambool Classic) and Go Wild Teddy (Melbourne Cup). READ…

GRV’s General Manager of Racing, Greg Kerr, provides an update on some of the current topics from around the racetrack. Q. The number of Victorian greyhound race meetings has recently risen from 23 to 26 each week. What does this mean for the racing program? Greg Kerr: The idea behind the extra meetings has always been to give more dogs the opportunity to gain a start, and a change in the way we grade some of these meetings means we are able to target dogs in a bottom-up style. This…

Victorian superstar Simon Told Helen is the Greyhound Clubs Australia Greyhound of the Year for 2019-20. The David Burnett-trained sprinter received the award following a season in which he amassed six group wins including three at Group 1 level. Others to be recognised as part of last night’s historic virtual production were: Greyhound of the Year finalist: Sennachie (Vic)Greyhound of the Year finalist: Whiskey Riot (Vic)Sire of the Year: Fernando Bale (Vic)Dam of the Year: Ready To Riot (NSW)Run of the Year: Hooked On Scotch (Vic)Denise Fysh Award: Frank &…