Sandown Park is set to play host to one of the most keenly contested Group finals in recent history following the heats of the Berwick Mazda Harrison Dawson tonight.
Less than two lengths separate seven of the eight finalists, with the field combing to win 124 races and almost $800,000 in prize money.
Jamie Ennis’s former track record holder Cape Hawke set the time standard in taking out the night’s opening heat in 29.32 seconds.
Making his fourth start back from an injury enforced lay off, Cape Hawke began like a shot from box three to establish a four length lead entering the back straight. General Destini took full advantage of box one to hold his position through the first turn and set off in pursuit of Cape Hawke.
The sons of Where’s Pedro cleared from the field, and despite General Destini’s best efforts, Cape Hawke did enough to hang to win by a length. Both greyhounds will again jump from boxes 1 and 3 respectively in the final.
David Bale proved too strong for Smoke Home, winning the second heat by 4.5 lengths in 29.33 seconds. Already a veteran of several feature race finals, the Graeme Bate trained chaser’s 15th win took his career earnings beyond $100,000, but will need to be at his best in next week’s final after coming up with box 6.
Wy Yung Tiger’s gave his legion of supporters a reason to get excited when he defeated Golden Easter Egg winner Don’t Knocka Him by three quarters of a length in 29.38 seconds.
Owned by members of the Wy Yung Football Club, the son of Bombastic Shiraz made no mistake from box three to lead all the way, and trainer Mick Fearnley was delighted when his star chaser drew box 8 for the final.
The upset of the night came in the final heat when Lektra Johnson upstaged his more fancied rivals to defeat Premier Boloney by three quarters of a length in 29.42 seconds.
The final of the Group 2 Berwick Mazda Harrison-Dawson will be run at Sandown Park on Thursday 17 May. The $105,000 final will form part of an outstanding night of greyhound racing, which also features the final of the $105,000 Group 1 Macro Meats Sapphire Crown.
The heats of the Group 1 RSN Sandown Cup – Australia’s richest race for stayers – will also be run on the night with WA super star Miata the highlight.
There will be a $250,000 guaranteed SuperTAB quaddie pool on the meeting, and patrons oncourse will have the chance to win a $2500 travel voucher.
Click on the greyhound’s name below to see a replay of its heat.
$105,000 Group 2 Berwick Mazda Harrison-Dawson Crown (515m)
Box Greyhound Trainer Heat time
1 General Destini Norm Rinaldi
29.39
2 Lektra Johnson
Andrea Dailly
29.36
3 Cape Hawke Jamie Ennis
29.32
4 Premier Boloney
Kelly Bravo 29.42
5 Smoke Home
Lauren Gorman
29.61
6 David Bale Graeme Bate
29.33
7 Don’t Knocka Him
Jason Thompson
29.43
8 Wy Yung Tiger
Mick Fearnley
29.38
9 Gordon Bale
Graeme Bate 1st Res
10 Adam Meway
Anthony Azzopardi 2nd Res
Mick Floyd selects: 1. Cape Hawke, 2. Wy Yung Tiger, 3.General Destini
