Rupee rounds out 2021 in typical style

Aston Rupee was at it again last night at Sandown Park with a sublime performance which left us all in awe yet surprised no one.

He speared to the lead as the extremely short priced favourite in the night’s Free-ForAll – the next 24 seconds was poetry in motion. He won by 7½ lengths in a stunning time of 28.95.

It was the third time he’s broken 29 seconds in a race and fourth if you include his trial to qualify for Speed Star. Only eight greyhounds have broken the barrier and outside of Aston Rupee none have done it on more than one occasion.

“He needed a good draw. His past two races (Melbourne Cup and Phoenix) have been in high pressure fields and he drew box four and five. I’m well aware they don’t hand out those races but we need a slice of luck,” said trainer Glenn Rounds.

Aston Rupee, or ‘Jimbo’ as he’s known, will now target heats of the Paws of Thunder series at Wentworth Park on Saturday January 15.

“We’ll go to Sydney next Wednesday and trial at Wentworth Park to get ready for the Paws of Thunder.”

There are many feature events coming up at Queensland’s Albion Park however Rounds has decided to bypass them because of hot weather and logistical realities.

“The other option is to go to Brisbane but I’d prefer not to in the middle of summer. We’d have to fly him, he’d be away from home and away from us – that’s something I prefer not to do.”

Rounds said heading to Wentworth Park will be an advantage for other feature events later in the year.

“There’s also the Golden Easter Egg and two Million Dollar Chases all at Wentworth Park, it’ll be a benefit to build experience there with those races in mind.”

Aston Rupee’s win on Thursday night marked exactly one year since he made his racing debut at Warrnambool. He’s gone on to win 20 of his 35 starts and $466,050 in prize money. Within those 20 wins we’ve seen countless jaw-dropping performances which has him considered as the fastest greyhound on the planet.

Click here for last night’s results