On a night where the best young talent in greyhound racing was on display, it was Zara Marnie who stole the show.
Des Douch’s young star put the competition on notice with a best-of-night 29.17s win in the second heat last night.
She pinged the lids from Box 2 and led clearly from Trapper Tears. With Trapper Tears coming off a 29.17s win the week prior, many were expecting Zara Marnie to be picked off in the run home.
The opposite – she kicked away for a statement two-and-a-half length victory.
Zara Marnie (2) leads all the way in Heat 2 of the Launching Pad
Blue Demon stole headlines from Starline Express in the opening heat after reeling in the interstate gun in 29.25s for the Ennis camp.
Starline Express’ highly anticipated track debut was no disappointment, however. The speedster set a ridiculous 4.96s early and went 29.26s in defeat.
Blue Demon (7) was outstanding in chasing down Starline Express (2)
Hector Fawley returned to the track for the first time since a Melbourne Cup Prelude back in November and scored a thrilling win for the Cockerell clan.
He came from fifth and powered home ahead of Osprey Athena. The win was his first from an outside box.
Hector Fawley (7) completes a dream return to the track
Tony Rasmussen had a successful evening with both his South Australian entrants progressing through to next week’s semi-finals.
Victa Alby was an impressive 29.51s winner in Heat 6 with Live It running on strongly for fourth place in Heat 7.
Canya Exceed and Meteor Monelli won their respective heats in quick time ahead of some strong contenders.
Series favourite Magic Muffin failed to advance after a tricky race which saw both her and Big Energy finish toward the back of the field.
Other notable contenders including Make No Promise, Hara’s Skipper and Trooper Tears failed to win their heats but will all progress after finishing in the top four.
Launching Pad Semi-Final Draws
Semi-Final 1
- Dragon Inn
- Cheeky Wink
- Crackerjack Aret
- Starline Express
- Launch Code
- Hara’s Skipper
- Crackerjack Boom
- Zara Marnie
Semi-Final 2
- Blue Demon
- Trapper Tears
- Akina Jack
- Shadow’s Secret
- Dundee Rebel
- Ohana Sitdown
- False Confidence
- Xanadu
Semi-Final 3
- Victa Alby
- Meteor Monelli
- Cruise Mode
- Exalted
- Rachael’s Tears
- Make No Promise
- Fiorano
- Osprey Athena
Semi-Final 4
- Blazing Dodge
- Al’s Entity
- Live It
- Crackerjack Rob
- Hector Fawley
- Canya Exceed
- If You Say
- Trooper Tears
Click here for last night’s results
The Launching Pad Final will run on Thursday April 6. Enjoy the evening with a Robbie Williams and Ed Sheeran tribute show. There will be a punters club on the evening, as well as a new pool table and FIFA on the PS5 – both free to play.
