The TAB Melbourne Cup carnival kicks off tonight and greyhound racing fans are in for a treat.
Following a successful Meadows leg of the Metro Festival of Racing, attention now turns to Sandown Park as we build towards the world’s greatest greyhound race, the TAB Melbourne Cup, on Friday 27th November.
The first of three massive weeks kicks off with the running of the $25,000 winner-takes-all Shootout. Shima Shine, the second fastest greyhound ever to grace Sandown Park, comes in the race on the back of his breakthrough victory in Saturday night’s TAB Topgun however he has been somewhat easy in betting, easing from his $2.40 opening quote to $2.70.
One greyhound who had received early support is Christo Bale. The Speed Star winner ran an eye catching third to Shima Shine in the Topgun, and co-trainer Lisa Delbridge believes that by drawing inside he’s a real chance to win for the second time at group level.
“When he draws inside, he’s a different dog to when he’s drawn outside,” she told RSN Central.
“With four dogs in the race, there’s a little bit of room for him to hopefully stay out of trouble. He showed in the Speed Star what he’s capable of so a nice clear run to the first corner would be nice.”
The Shootout will be Christo Bale’s third consecutive start at group level having competed in the Hume Cup the previous Monday, and Delbridge believes he’s hard fit and ready to show his best tonight.
“He pulled up terrific (from his last run). He didn’t have the best preparation going into the group 1s, I trialled him the week before and didn’t go super. But he shows it doesn’t matter what he trials he has a big heart and chases hard so this week he’s primed.”
While box 1 is coveted in most circumstances, it does not have a great record in the Shootout. Just four winners have donned the red vest in the 21 previous editions of the race and none since Velocette won the race in 2009. The last three winners have worn the white vest, but the most winners have worn the yellow. Between those two boxes, they’ve annexed the last 11 Shootouts.
It’s also a race dominated by leaders with eight of the last 15 winners leading all of the way, and a race that punters have worked out with just two of the last 17 winners paying more than $3.
According to TAB, it will be a frantic rush to the first turn with Hard Style Rico (3), Tiggerlong Tonk (5) and Shima Shine (7) around the $2.70 quote to lead to the first mark, with Christo Bale a whopping $26 to lead with a lap to go.
Not surprisingly for a race dubbed the ‘speed championship of Australia,’ the race is won in fast times. Since the installation of the current track surface in 2010, the average winning time 29.195, with seven of those 10 winners going faster than 29.20. TAB has set the line for the race at 29.200.
While the Shootout is the main event, there is also a brilliant support card with 10 TAB Melbourne Cup Preludes. This is the final opportunity for greyhounds to qualify the TAB Melbourne Cup heats on Friday 20th November and several prominent greyhounds – and kennels – are looking to secure their spot.
One such kennel is three-time TAB Melbourne Cup winning trainer Jason Thompson, who has five greyhounds engaged tonight. TAB is offering a market on how many winners he’ll lead home with two or more the favourited way of going at $2. Jason’s son Luke will be on handling duties alongside his father tonight, here are his thoughts on their chances tonight.
For TAB customers, you can Place a Fixed Odds win bet online on all races at Sandown Park, Dapto & Ipswich, this Thursday. If your dog wins, get paid out PLUS get your stake back as a bonus bet up to $25*, and for quaddie punters there’s a projected $100,000 quaddie pool.
TAB greyhound expert Jason Adams told RSN his best of the day are:
Race 1 number 1: Tiberia Bale (each way)
Race 5 number 6: Jax Bale (each way)
Race 10 number 1: Special Talent
Quaddie: 2346 / 146 / 267 / 156
Here’s some of the notable TAB betting activity to 12.45pm today.
Race 1
$300 @ $31 on Shantelle Rose
$280 @ $5 on Jepara
Race 2
80 percent of support for Immunity
Race 3
$589 @ $2.70 on Weblec Ace
Weblec Ace $2.80 to $2.30 (58 percent of support)
Race 4
$500 @ $9.50 on Tiggerlong Tonk
$400 @ $2.70 on Hard Style Rico
Race 5
$400 @ $3.80 on Zipping Sullivan
$250 @ $5.50 on Jax Bale
Race 6
$250 @ $3.80 on Aussie Secret
43 percent support for Xerri
Race 7
$278 @ $4.60 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone $4.60 to $3.70 today
Race 8
$100 @ $17 Kingfisher Rose
Race 9
$500 @ $3.60 on Mepunga Isla
$500 @ $2.30 on Zipping Bram
61 percent of support for Zipping Bram
Race 10
$500 @ $1.85 on Special Talent
58 percent of support for Special Talent
Race 11
$150 and $100 @ $23 on Go Quantum
72 percent of support or Fabriola Zad ($3.50 to $2.50)
Race 12
$725 @ $3.50 on Freya The Slayer
$500 @ $3 on Cawborne Footrot
Prices quoted correct at 1.45pm. Click here for the latest prices
Click here for your free Watchdog form guide. Catch all of tonight’s racing live on Sky Racing, or download the Watchdog app.
*Excludes SA & WA residents. Promo T&Cs apply. Available once per person per race on first Fixed Odds win account bet placed online on all races at Sandown Park, Dapto & Ipswich, run on 12/11/2020 with a minimum field of 4 runners. Bonus Bet equal to stake up to $25. No multi, bonus, cash out, partial cash out or live bets qualify. Think! About your choices. Call Gambler’s Help, Gambling Help or the ACT Gambling Counselling & Support Service on 1800 858 858 www.gamblinghelp.nsw.gov.au or www.gamblinghelponline.org.au. Think of the people who need your support. Gamble Responsibly.
