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  • Tuesday, 26 Dec, 2017,
  • by Greyhound Racing Victoria

Quick Jagger Supreme At Sale

Western Australian star Quick Jagger, the only interstate finalist, emulated his sire Dyna Nalin when upstaging millionaire Fanta Bale in the Group 1 TRFM Sale Cup Final (650m) on Boxing Day.

Described by trainer Chris Halse as “dumb”, Quick Jagger continued WA’s excellent recent record in the Cup, following in the footsteps of Dyna Nalin in 2013 and Star Recall, which was also sent to Victoria by Halse and partner Linda Britton in 2014.

While the Cannington 520m record-holder had only had one unplaced middle distance appearance in his home state, he won impressively over 595m at Sandown Park before winning his Sale Cup heat in 37.37sec, just .03 outside Chasin’ Crackers qualifying standard.

Melbourne Cup runner-up Chasin’ Crackers started $3.10 favourite in Tuesday night’s $75,000 to-the-winner final, shading champion Fanta Bale at $3.30, with Quick Jagger one of three finalists at $7.50.

Chasin’ Crackers was best to begin, but Quick Jagger and Fanta Bale were in close attendance and in a memorable drive to the line, Quick Jagger finished best to defeat Fanta Bale by 1.29 lengths in 37.35sec, with Chasin’ Crackers finishing third.

“The dog has loads of ability and he’s always promised a lot, so to finally win a Group 1 was a great feeling,” said Chris Halse, who watched the Cup in his car after trialling in WA.

“Deep down I knew I had the fastest dog in the race, which sounds funny when you look at Fanta Bale and the other dogs in the race.

“It was just a matter of luck, because if there’s a way to get beaten, Quick Jagger will find it. If something can go wrong in a race, it will go wrong with him. The best way to put it is that he’s a dumb dog, which probably makes sense because he’s owned by a group of Irishmen!

“When he got around the first corner safely and was out wide I was really happy. I thought he had Chasin’ Crackers covered, but Fanta Bale is just a great chaser and you never know you’ve beaten her. But he was strong to the line and put them away in the straight.

“We won the Sale Cup with Star Recall. She was a very good bitch, but Quick Jagger is quicker than she was and he’s stronger too.”

It was a fairy-tale result for Quick Jagger’s three owners, Irishmen Declan Edmonds and Eamonn Fitzpatrick and friend Geoff Chatfield, with first-time owner Edmonds telling GRV in the lead-up to the Cup that prior to owning Quick Jagger he “didn’t know what a Group 1 was!”

“I’m still shaking. Best day of my life. I’m on cloud nine,” an ecstatic Edmonds said moments after Quick Jagger’s triumph.

The winner of 12 from 27 starts, Quick Jagger is first reserve for the Group 3 Shootout, to be held at Sandown on New Year’s Day.

“It was always the plan to go to 700m with him down the track, but he can run the hands off the clock over 500m, so you try to pick up the good sprint races as well,” Halse said.

“After the way he went tonight we’ll have to step him up now. We’ve got a race called The Miata coming up over here in a couple of weeks that we’ll look at for sure.”

The three support features on Sale Cup night saw odds-on favourite Tito Mojito, trained by Michael Giles, take out the Summer Cup Final (520m), Neville Wakefield’s Fully Loaded win the Gippsland Carnival Launch Final (440m), while Feikuai George, prepared by Xiao Cheng, was a runaway winner of the Rising Stars Final (440m).

VIDEO REPLAY

Quick Jagger after his Group One win
Quick Jagger after his Group One win
FINISH - Box seven Quick Jagger defeating Fanta Bale (box eight) at the finish line
FINISH – Box seven Quick Jagger defeating Fanta Bale (box eight) at the finish line
First lap of the 2017 Group One Sale Cup.
First lap of the 2017 Group One Sale Cup.

This article was compiled by Gerard Guthrie and Molly Haines. Photos by Clint Anderson.

Greyhound Racing VictoriaGreyhound Racing Victoria

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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