Aston Rupee won the Speed Star on Wednesday night, but he wasn’t the fastest greyhound in the series.
The brilliant Glenn Rounds trained youngster entered the series as the top seed having run the second fastest time ever at Sandown Park (28.927) and duly took the Speed Star title a time of 29.055. But while he completed the famous venue’s 515m journey in the quickest time. But he wasn’t the fastest greyhound in the series.
The IsoLynx tracking system was installed at Sandown Park ahead of the series with each greyhound at Sandown Park now carrying a small beacon in their racing vest that tracks a range of data on the greyhound’s performance including speed, acceleration and distance travelled. Those who tuned into Sky Racing on the night would have seen the speed of each greyhound on screen as part of the broadcast.
The system takes a measurement 40 times per second which, in time, will provide a whole new level of race and greyhound analysis. That’ll be cool (once built), but for now, we just want to know which greyhound was the fastest and that tile goes to…
Equalizer.
Equalizer reach a top speed of 72.17km/h 101 metres into his Speed Star match making him comfortably the fastest greyhound in terms of top speed in the Speed Star.
Speed Star – Top Speeds
| 1 | EQUALIZER | 72.17 |
| 2 | TIGGERLONG TONK | 69.49 |
| 3 | ASTON RUPEE | 68.88 |
| 4 | KURO KISMET | 68.73 |
| 5 | WELL GROUNDED | 68.29 |
| 6 | HIGHLY EXPLOSIVE | 68.17 |
| 7 | RICCARTON RICK | 68.12 |
| 8 | ASTON FASTNET | 67.35 |
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Early speed vs sustained speed
The Tiggerlong Tonk vs Highly Explosive match was, for many, the match of the night. As expected, Tiggerlong Tonk began quickly to take an early lead and established a margin down the back before Highly Explosive unleashed her powerful finishing burst.
The question is – was Highly Explosive finishing strongly, or was Tiggerlong Tonk slowing down.
The answer? Both.
As the pair hit the line, Highly Explosive was still travelling at 60.54km/h while Tiggerlong Tonk had slowed to 58.72km/h. In the battle of early speed vs superior strength, early speed prevailed – by a head.
Speed Star – Time At The Finish Line
| 1 | HIGHLY EXPLOSIVE | 60.54 |
| 2 | KURO KISMET | 60.39 |
| 3 | ASTON FASTNET | 60.26 |
| 4 | EQUALIZER | 60.10 |
| 5 | ASTON RUPEE | 59.84 |
| 6 | RICCARTON RICK | 59.42 |
| 7 | WELL GROUNDED | 59.26 |
| 8 | TIGGERLONG TONK | 58.72 |
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A game of inches
It this level of the sport, the smallest margins can make a big difference.
Take Kuro Kismet for instance. The Launching Pad winner won his Speed Star match 29.251, a time good enough for sixth place overall.
However, he covered 519.67m in his run or 3.44m more than winner Aston Rupee. Had ‘Sox’ run 515m instead of 519.67, he’d have finished second and pocketed an additional $3000.
Speed Star – Distance Covered
| 1 | KURO KISMET | 519.67 |
| 2 | ASTON RUPEE | 516.23 |
| 3 | TIGGERLONG TONK | 515.55 |
| 4 | ASTON FASTNET | 515.41 |
| 5 | RICCARTON RICK | 515.39 |
| 6 | HIGHLY EXPLOSIVE | 515.36 |
| 7 | EQUALIZER | 515.19 |
| 8 | WELL GROUNDED | 514.71 |
But hang on I hear you say, the race is 515m – how did Well Grounded only run 514.71m?
The distance is taken 1m off the rail, approximately the path of the lure. A greyhound that sticks hard to the fence will cover less ground.
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A staying star is born
Five Star emerged out of the Speed Star series as one of the country’s most promising stayers. The Paul Abela trained pup had his first start over 715m in a heat of the Sandown Cup, finding trouble through the run to finish sixth in 42.32. He came back a week later and showed no signs of ‘second up syndrome’ which can plague greyhounds in their first staying campaign by running second to Hank The Hustler in the Listed Cup Night Stayers, this time running 41.64.
Well supported in both his match and as overall winner, Five Star turned the tables on ‘Hank’ to win 41.498, the third fastest time over the distance in 2021.
In doing so, he improved his time over each of his three runs over the distance. That feat is remarkable in itself – but even more so given he rose in class with each start, and slashed his first split time with every run – 6.21, 6.15, then 6.05.
His Speed Star win was also his first at Sandown Park after 12 attempt across all distances, and the first time a top seed has been beaten in a 715m Speed Star.
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Rambo loses no zip
Fresh off his RSN Sandown Cup win six days earlier, Zipping Rambo showed that he had lost none of his early zip by winning the Racecallers Speed Star over 595m.
He entered the series as the second fastest greyhound ever over the distance (33.659) and emerged with the second fastest win in a Speed Star middle distance event (33.772).
It was the 9th fastest time ever over the trip and just outside Tornado Tears’ 595m Speed Star record (33.668) set in September 2018.
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A strip out for the bookies
The Speed Star is billed as a punter’s paradise and series 10 at Sandown Park certainly panned out that way.
Nine out of 12 favourites won their match while two favourites won their overall events, including Zipping Rambo which one punter had plunked $6000 on at $2.10 for a lazy $12,600 collect.
Punters also came for the ‘under 29.150’ time for the Bill Collins Speed Star. After opening $1.90, it was $1.25 by the time the first match jumped.
Qualifying times again proved a good form reference with all eight matches over 515m and 595m won by the fastest qualifier, while early speed again proved pivotal with the leader at the first mark going also going on to claim the win. It was a different story over 715m however, with just one faster qualifier (Here’s Tears) saluting, with two winners also coming from behind at the first mark.
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Click here for a wrap and full results of the 2021 Speed Star
Click here for a the playlist of all 12 matches.
