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  • Thursday, 13 Mar, 2014,
  • by Greyhound Racing Victoria

Records Are Made To Be Broken

TWO VICTORIAN TRACK RECORDS FALL IN ONE NIGHT

Surf Mail’s performance in lowering Cranbourne’s long-standing 520 metres track record last night is something the club’s Manager, Tony Wright, thought he would never see.

Pororoca knocked almost five lengths off the track record when he set it at 29.68sec in 2006, however the Darren McDonald-trained Surf Mail recorded 29.67sec last night in a quality display.

CLICK HERE to watch Surf Mail’s track record run at Cranbourne

“I didn’t think Pororoca’s track record would go in my lifetime. In fact I didn’t think it would ever be broken. But as they say records are made to be broken,” Wright said.

“Pororoca’s run that night was nothing short of incredible. He ran home in 8.54sec, which was simply breathtaking, especially when you compare that to Surf Mail’s run home time last night of 8.73sec.”

While taking nothing away from Surf Mail’s effort, Wright said that the Cranbourne track is operating significantly quicker since major maintenance works were completed on the track in recent weeks.

“Surf Mail has got plenty of ability, there’s no doubt about that, but in all fairness I’d estimate that the track is currently operating 5-7 lengths faster than it was prior to the works being done,” Wright said.
“I didn’t think Pororoca’s track record would go in my lifetime because it was incredible. In fact, I didn’t think it would ever be broken” – TONY WRIGHT
“A lot of work went into the project – which was done in conjunction with GRV – and involved removing 100 tonnes of sand, harrowing up what was left, and then adding a new lot of 100 tonnes of sand.”

“From what we’ve seen so far the track is operating consistently and safely. I’d say it’s better than it has ever been.”

McDonald agreed that the track is operating quicker than usual.

“It’s nice to have a track record but the reality is that Surf Mail is a little bit past his prime and there is no way known that he’s as quick as what Pororoca was. He was an unbelievably quick dog,” McDonald said.

Incidentally, Ballarat’s 450 metres track record also fell last night, with the Jason Thompson-trained Phenomenal running a time of 24.88sec.

CLICK HERE to watch Phenomenal’s track record win at Ballarat

The previous record was held by Hooksy at 24.94sec.

While Phenomenal’s run was hand-timed and contradicted the time on the semaphore board – which is currently experiencing technical issues – his time of 24.88sec is official as per the Judge’s ruling

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Greyhound Racing Victoria

GRV regulates the sport of greyhound racing in the state of Victoria under the Racing Act 1958 (Act), which includes setting standards and ensuring they are met by participants.

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