Jacqui Shoshone sharpened her Launching Pad preparation in style last night with an impressive win at Sandown Park.
As many predicted she found the lead early and continued to dominate the race. She defeated $50 chance Sable Lass by 2½ lengths in a smart 29.61.
The win made it back-to-back wins at Sandown Park with just one hundredth of a second separating her two times. Pearcedale trainer David Crawford was delighted post-race and credited Jacqui Shoshone’s consistency.
“She’s been going really well and trying hard. She’s pretty consistent, she’s gone almost an identical time to what she ran last week,” said Crawford.
Jacqui Shoshone broke her maiden status with a tier 3 win at Warragul in August last year, she then spent almost five months away from the track before resuming.
“She started off well but then I had to spell her as she came on season. Then for three or four months she wasn’t going any good. In the last six weeks she’s really turned a corner and racing well.”
Jacqui Shoshone hails from a litter of 9 that are all bred, owned and trained by Crawford, his wife Shona and son Robert. The litter doesn’t turn two-years-old until early April, amazingly eight of the nine have already claimed their maiden win.
Jacqui Shoshone along with litter brother Navajo Bear will now attack next week’s Launching Pad heats.
“I’ve bought two tickets, I think they will both be very competitive. We’ve been lucky with box draws, so hopefully that can continue for a little longer.”
The $410,000 Launching Pad series is open to greyhounds with 1-6 wins and no more than 30 starts. Entry forms are sold out and we will see greyhounds from around the country compete in next week’s heats.
“I think the series is a good idea. There is an investment but there’s a lot of money up for grabs.”
Participants who purchased an entry to the Launching Pad must nominate by 8am on Tuesday morning. The series promises to be white hot, fields will be drawn in the hours following the close of nominations.
Click here for last night’s results
Click here for Launching Pad details
