Twelve months ago Andrea Dailly was front and centre in one of greyhound racing’s greatest moments.
She led Australia’s favourite greyhound, Fernando Bale to the starting boxes for the 2015 Melbourne Cup with the massive crowd track side hoping to see ‘Flying Fernando’ add to his nine group 1 wins. The $1.40 favourite missed the start before powering through to lead down the back However kennel mate Dyna Double One surged past in the home straight to snare the $420,000 first prize in what is widely regarded as the greatest Melbourne Cup of all time.
“We’d love to have those two dogs in it again this year!” said Dailly.
“They both went so well all year, I would have been devastated if one of them hadn’t of won the Melbourne Cup. I was hoping Fernando would win – Tom handled Dyna Double One and I handled Fernando and after the race we just kind of looked at each other and put out hands up. It wasn’t the result we expected but it was still very good, a real thrill.”
The win was Dailly’s second in the world’s richest greyhound race after Dyna Tron claimed the Cup in 2011.
“We were over the moon with the first Cup. Everything happened so quickly, it was such a blur. So many people strive to win a Melbourne Cup. It’s the race everyone wants to win, so to win one was very exciting.”
With Fernando Bale and Dyna Double One long retired, there is much less hype around the Anakie kennel ahead of the 2016 TAB Melbourne Cup. It will also be much less busy – Australia’s largest kennel has seven runners in Friday night’s heats after having 16 in the 2015 series. However Dailly was cautiously optimistic about their chances.
“It’s going to be tough, there’s so many very good dogs going around at the moment. I think our best chance is Shima Song, but my heart says Marley Bale. Dyna Boomer goes really well too, but he’s just big and awkward – if he can get the right run he’s in with a chance,” she said. Interestingly, Shima Song won the Geelong Cup leading into the TAB Melbourne Cup series, the same race Dyna Tron claimed en route to his TAB Melbourne Cup win.
TAB Melbourne Cup heats night is widely regarded as the best night of greyhound racing of the year. The 64 runners engaged have combined for more than 1000 race wins and over $7.3m in prize money. The winner of each heat will progress to the $600,000 final on Friday 18 November.
Markets for each heat, as well as an all-in market, is available on tab.com.au. There is a $10,000 guaranteed First Four poll on each race on Friday night.
Click here for Friday night’s form guide.
Click here for markets from tab.com.au
Dyna Double One nabs Fernando Bale to win the 2015 TAB Melbourne Cup
