There was surprise, relief and excitement among trainers trying to qualify their greyhounds for Thursday’s Speed Star series following an intriguing final round of qualifying at Sandown Park this afternoon.
Six greyhounds were booked to trial between races to try and qualify for the $190,000 match race extravaganza with the final qualification list remaining in flux until the final trial.
Most of the interest revolved around the 595m Racecallers series with four of the six trials to be run over the distance. After RSN Sandown Cup bound West Australian duo Beryllium (34.383) and Moment To Jive (34.372) failed to impact the leader board, it was left to the unheralded Magic Will to make the first move of the day.
A winner of just three of his 12 career starts and $4215 in prize money, Magic Will belied his modest race record to stop the clock in a slick 34.005 and move to fifth in the standings, much to the delight of his trainer Joe Borg (pictured above with Magic Will).
Somewhat surprisingly, the next change on the leader board came not from a trial but the following race when Benali blitzed the circuit to move into second place with a stunning 33.886 gallop, just 0.003 seconds outside Dyna Chancer’s time standard set last Thursday night. The time came as somewhat of a surprise for trainer Robert Britton who had already nominated Benali for the 515m consolation event.
“I thought he was a really nice chance in a consolation series, but I’ll have to have a think about it now,” said Britton of his charge, which also finished 13th in 515m standings.
“I’m leaning towards the 515m, but will speak to the owner (Noel Mugavin) and have a good look at it tomorrow.”
The final trial over the 595m was former Tasmanian chaser Wynburn Cutie. Entering the day in 8th place in the standings, the Kel Greenough trained chaser has since been related to 10th position and needed to break 34.112 to earn a crack in a share of $50,000 in prize money available for the series. Much to the relief of connections, she ran 34.063 and finishes with the 7th fastest time over the distance.
The day’s only 715m trialer was Sir Jay Jay, who ran 41.759 – half a length faster than the time he ran when second behind Burn One Down in last September’s corresponding event – to qualify 5th fastest. The time came a surprise to his trainer, Karen Leek.
“I didn’t think he’d go quite that fast, I’m stoked!” she said following the trial.
“I thought he’d break 42 seconds, because he does trial well on his own. It’s not ideal trialling him over the distance this close to the event, but he normally pulls up well so we’ll see how he is tomorrow and go from there.”
There were no moves on the 515m leader board with Monster Fish (29.792) the only greyhound to solo trial, however the was good news for fastest qualifier Elevated.
Out of racing for five weeks after picking up a slight groin injury, the younger half sister to dual Speed Star winner Bewlidering showed she was in good order ahead of the Bill Collins Speed Star by hand slipping a slick 23.05 after the last race.
Nominations for the series close at 9am on Tuesday 8 May and the full line up of matches will be available soon after.
The Speed Star brings together the fastest greyhounds in the country in a series of match races competing for a share of $190,000 in prize money. There is a series over all racing distances with greyhounds qualifying based on their best times at the track in 2018. There will be a total of 20 matches with just 8 minutes between each match ensured an action packed night of fast paced greyhound racing action.
Be on course for a chance to win a share in $30,000 in cash as part of the Top Dog Tipping competition, plus giveaways and promotions through the night. The first match will jump at 6.39pm, entry is free.
Click here for further information about the Speed Star, final standings over each distance, and replays of today’s trials.
