Worm Burner and Bewildering will go head to head in a dream matchup of the two fastest qualifiers in Thursday night’s Bill Collins Speed Star match race series.
Worm Burner had already ensured his berth in the series with a scintillating time of 29.159, however it was kennelmate Bewildering that was the talk of the track when he scorched around Sandown Park in 29.175 during the final qualification session on Sunday afternoon. Worm Burner has long been regarded one of Australia’s fastest greyhounds, a reputation he has only enhanced since making the move to Victoria from South Australia and winning four consecutive races in slick time at Sandown Park.
Bewildering is the baby of the field at just 27 months of age and with 12 career starts, he showed his class when running within half a length of the Warrnambool 450m track record when winning the group 2 Warrnambool Classic before his scintillating qualifying trial.
The third and fourth fastest qualifiers, Aston Dee Bee (29.188) and Eminent Reality (29.230), will also face off on Thursday night. Aston Dee Bee comes into the series after a short sojourn in New South Wales during which he broke the Bulli 472m track record and ran within a length of the Maitland 450m time standard. Eminent Reality rounded out his preparations by trialling 29.23 in a public trial last Wednesday afternoon – an identical time to which he qualified.
The night will kick off with Riveting taking on Nature’s Gent. Riveting is the second runner for owners Bill and Serge Buccilli who also own Bewildering, while Nature’s Gent is the fourth runner for Seona Thompson.
The other match up sees Black Mumbo meet Flyrite. Black Mumbo’s qualification time was actually set when running second to Worm Burner in the Listed Easter Gift. Flyrite rounded out her preparation by running fourth to Leo’s Gift in the group 2 Warrnambool Cup. Interestingly, Flyrite’s qualifying run was set when defeating Leo’s Gift in April.
The Bill Collins Speed Star is open to the fastest eight nominations based on times recorded between February 2nd and May 7th. Times are recorded both in races on Thursdays and Sundays, and in a series of qualification trials. This will be the fourth time the club has conducted a series in the Speed Star fomat.
The winner of each match will win $10,000 while the greyhound that records the fastest overall time will pick up a $15,000 bonus. The Bill Collins Speed Star is one of three group 3 events to be run on Thursday night along with the Racecallers (595m) and Lizrene (715m).
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