The Gray family will have their fingers crossed this Thursday night as their own Narralee contests the group 1 Sapphire Crown final.
Narralee was a late inclusion into Sapphire Crown heat 3 after the scratching of Dash Of Rose. Part owner Linda Gray was taken aback by her charges’ emphatic win.
“It was unexpected – I didn’t think she go quite that well but she was very good,” said Gray.
Gray, a single mum, had grown up with a connection to greyhound racing however after a 20 year absence she recently decided to return to the sport.
“My uncle was a greyhound trainer so I grew up with dogs around. After being away from it for a long time I knew of someone who had some pups available so thought to myself ‘I might get back into it’.”
Owners of Narralee the Mother and Sons syndicate consists of Linda and her two sons 20-year-old Liam and 15-year-old Jordan, who she has only recently introduced to greyhound ownership.
“I got the boys involved so we could go out to the track and do something together as a family. It’s been wonderful, the boys absolutely love the thrill when she races let alone when she wins. Then we’ve also got something to talk about,” laughed Gray.
“We’re only battlers – I’m just a single mum with my two boys so to win a group 1 final would be pretty awesome.”
Narralee will jump from box 2 in Thursday’s $145,000 final and is currently rated a $7.50 chance by tab.com.au.
“I’ve tried to not think about the race too much or I’ll get nervous – I’ll be half watching and hoping for the best.”
Narralee recently returned to racing after a long layoff due to an achilles injury suffered in a feature race at Sale in July last year. Trainer Steve Creighton and his family have put in an endless amount of work to get their star back to her very best.
“My family and I put a lot of work into her to get her back racing. She was pretty fit so we decided to step her up in distance – she won at Sale, then Traralgon and has come to Sandown and won again. I can’t fault anything about her – she’s a lovely dog with a beautiful nature,” explained Creighton.
The night is not only highlighted by two group 1 finals but also seven heats of the world’s richest greyhound race the group 1 RSN927 Sandown Cup.
Click here for Thursday’s fields and form
Click here for tab.com.au Sapphire Crown market
RELATED
A decade on, KJ returns to reclaim Sapphire Crown
Narralee into the heats, easily into the final
