Zipping Hawk caused a major upset at Sandown Park tonight by taking out a TAB Melbourne Cup Prelude at $17.
In his first start at Sandown Park since reaching the group 2 McKenna Memorial final in July, Zipping Hawk began cleanly from box 6 before carving down to the rail through the first turn. From there he railed under Mepunga Tycoon and powered away from the field off the back straight to score by five lengths in 29.54. It was the 10th win of his career and guaranteed him a place in the heats of the world’s richest greyhound race, the TAB Melbourne Cup.
“It’s very exciting,” said Tammy Collins who handled the greyhound on behalf of her father, Steve.
“He’s matured a lot, when he first started racing he wanted the rail pretty badly.
“Tonight he jumped a lot better and cleared a lot of the dogs underneath him before he got to the rail which is a lot better to see, but I think he’s just starting to put it all together. He’s always had the ability but his bad box manners have been his downfall.”
Pleasingly for connections, Collins believes Zipping Hawk will improve further off that run.
“That was his first 500m since coming back from a spell so hopefully he’s going to improve with fitness and can keep pressing on to Melbourne Cup heats.”
Zipping Hawk powers into the TAB Melbourne Cup heats
In the night’s second TAB Melbourne Cup Prelude, Zara’s Entity showed why she is widely regarded as one of the favourites for the series with a stunning victory in 29.26.
Returning to Sandown Park after an unlucky fifth in the group 1 Adelaide Cup, Zara’s Entity began fairly but used box 1 to full advantage to rail beneath her rivals through the first turn. With clear galloping room, she drew level with early leader Effective Comet leaving the back straight before unleashing a powerful final section to win by seven lengths. Her run home time of 10.37 seconds is one of the fastest recorded in 2017.
“She’s destined to go over more ground, but not when she’s running like that,” said Jackie Greenough, deputizing for her husband Kelvyn.
It was her ninth win from just 16 starts and was the third time she’s broken 29.30 at the track.
“She definitely loves this track. She’s an easy dog to train, she doesn’t do anything wrong.”
Despite winning some of the country’s biggest races, the TAB Melbourne Cup has eluded Greenough. Zara’s Entity has firmed into $14 second favouritism to finally break through for the popular Pearcedale trainer.
Zara’s Entity is brilliant in winning TAB Melbourne Cup Prelude 6
The winners of each TAB Melbourne Cup Prelude automatically earns a place in the heats on Friday 17 November with the winner of each heat progressing to the $600,000 final on Friday 24 November.
The final TAB Melbourne Cup Prelude series will be run on Thursday 9 November. Click here for full conditions of entry for the TAB Melbourne Cup.
