Written by Gerard Guthrie, Greyhound Recorder. 

John Barbara is hoping it will be a case of fourth time lucky in Friday night’s Group 2 Bendigo Cup final (425m).

Barbara will take a very strong hand into the $50,000-to-the-winner Cup after Impetuously and Cumulate produced the two fastest runs in the six heats held last Friday.

“This is my fourth Bendigo Cup, I haven’t had any luck in the other three, so hopefully it will be fourth time lucky,” said John Barbara.

“Mav Reiko ran fourth last year, which is as close as we’ve come, but we’ve had bad draws and this is the first time we’ve actually drawn close, so we’ll see how we go.”

Impetuously and Cumulate ran the quinella in Healesville’s Emerald final (300m) earlier in the month, fighting out a thrilling finish to the straight track feature, with Impetuously prevailing by the barest of margins.

The Amanda Tullio-owned-and-bred kennelmates then showcased their versatility when giving Barbara a winning double in the Bendigo Cup heats, and once again it was Impetuously that secured bragging rights.

Impetuously wins his heat of the Bendigo Cup from box 1 in a time of 23.52 seconds over the 425 metres.

A daughter of Bernardo and Submission, Impetuously clocked 23.52, while Cumulate, a son of Fernando Bale and Crashed, ran 23.65.

Both had the advantage of box one in their heat victories.

Impetuously is the winner of nine of her 17 starts, while Cumulate has won 11 from 18, with five seconds, and both have identical two from four records at Bendigo.

As was the case in the Emerald, the kennelmates have drawn alongside each other in Friday night’s Bendigo decider, with Cumulate in box three and Impetuously in four; however Barbara would have much preferred them the other way around.

Impetuously is $3.30 favourite, ahead of Michelle Mallia’s grand veteran Matt Loch (box 1) at $3.50, with Cumulate on the third line of betting at $4.50.

“Two box ones in the heats helped, but they went super, the both of them,” Barbara said.

“If they had drawn the other way around in the final and she (Impetuously) had three and he (Cumulate) had four, I’d be a lot more confident.

“She’s got a bad habit of cutting hard left, so hopefully she doesn’t clean him up or she jumps first and gets going.

“That’s the main problem but we’ll just take it as it comes.

“They were drawn the right way at Healesville, where she had seven and he drew eight.

“I think Impetuously is probably the better chance, because she might cut left and squash him. It just depends how they jump.

“She is brilliant early. She cut left in her heat and still ran 6.37, 11.04, which is unheard of up there.

“Cumulate went 6.42 and 11.11, so he’s not far behind her but that’s a big difference in dogs.

“Impetuously is probably a bit stronger than him in the run home too but they’re both very good chasers.”

Friday night’s Bendigo meeting will also feature the Spring Cup final (660m), where Anthony Azzopardi’s rising middle distance star House Of Sins will be chasing a sixth straight win.