Pursell’s pair go one-two


Brendan Pursell achieved a feat not many do by training a quinella in last night’s staying event at Sandown Park.

His pair Bronski Beat and Saint Destructor settled off the tempo early which was set by Front Page News. Bronski Beat came from 3rd at the top of the home straight and narrowly held out Saint Destructorin a solid time of 41.93.

“I did think he (Bronski Beat) would get the better of Saint Destructor, it was his (Saint Destructor) first ‘700’ and I wasn’t sure if he was going to run it out. Bronski Beat is not even two-years-old yet, so hopefully in time he can improve and become a handy stayer,” said Pursell.

Although opportunities for stayers are fairly narrow Pursell said there’s no need to rush the next assignment.

“No target yet, we’ll play it by year and see how much he improves over the next month or so. If he starts to improve a little bit more we might target better races.”

Pursell shares a strong working relationship with Rob Britton who is hailed as ‘king of the stayers’ after stacks of success over the longer journey in recent years.

“Yeah, I’ll take over from him – that won’t be very hard to do,” he said with tongue in cheek.

In the two races prior Paul Gabriel trained his first winning double and owner Lorne Starr claimed not only his first city win but his first double too with the pair a product of his first venture into breeding. Click here for his story.

Later in the night star pup on the up Jim Zarr Dashian recorded another win at Sandown Park. This time he was made to work hard for it though no doubt an experience he will benefit from.

Kraken Dust produced a powerful performance to win and further polish trainer Rod Clark’s impressive strike race across Victoria. Almost 30% of his starters have won spanning over the last 12 months.

Angela Langton’s Security Code set the fastest time of the night with a swift 29.31.

The Free-For-All was won by Fernando’s Riot for TAB Melbourne Cup winning trainer Anthony Azzopardi. He ran down the in-form Brother Cousin in a sharp 29.38.

Would you like to have a greyhound with Anthony Azzopardi? He’s a part of Team Borda and you can be a part of it, see racewith.com.au for more information.

Click here for last night’s results

Bronski Beat (2) defeats Saint Destructor (1)
Jim Zarr Dashian (8) works hard to win
Kraken Dust (8) over the top
Security Code (1) sets the fastest time of the night
Fernando's Riot (5) claims the FFA
Jason Adams
About Jason Adams - Racing Operations Coordinator at Sandown Park. Over 8 years involvement in greyhound racing and one of the sport's biggest and most passionate fans.
View all posts