It’s a long way from Warrnambool to the Yarra Valley, but the nine hour round trip was worthwhile for Ray and Jan Drew when Kirabilli Rosie won the prestigious Oaks Final on Sunday, Matt Jackson reports…
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Welcome to Edition 3 of the North Eastern Weekly Wrap. A terrific week of racing was certainly capped off with a big day at Healesville where the finals of the Oaks and Derby were held.

First off in the week we headed to Shepparton for a good quality card of racing. The feature races were Races 5 & 6, a Restricted Win Final and Grade 5 Final. In Race 5 we saw an action packed finish as early in the straight Why Not Les (6) who seemingly was going to win the race ducked in hard on top of the unbeaten Zoltina’s Legacy (8) severely checking it and throwing away any chance of winning.

They were a long way in front of the rest at the stage of the interference but having lost all their momentum it allowed Elbow Room (4) who was a long way off them straightening to fly home and record an unlikely win. (Replay)

The other feature was Race 6 where a good quality of sprinters assembled. Chrichton Bale (6) started favourite but was slow into stride and from that point on never had much luck, he did fly home for 4^th.

Stop Moochin (1) jumped well with Roman Baroque (4) who pushed through to 2^nd running the first turn. Roman Baroque took over straightening up and raced away for a terrific win and further enhanced his tremendous record at Shepparton. (Replay)

Other notable winners included All Courage in Race 2 who ran an exceptionally quick 25.16. Jimmy Auld might have found himself another smart one and also in the last Gaelic Peter who thrives from wide draws was able to wind up strongly winning in 21.95 from Box 8. Both dogs can carry on and win better races.
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Shepparton Results & Replays: Click Here
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Greyhound Racing then headed to Bendigo last Friday where we had an even card of racing ahead. The most impressive for mine on the program was Spring Missile in Race 11. Jumping fast from Box 6 he was able to run them off their legs early opening up a massive lead midrace, he did get a little tired but bolted in and can certainly keep winning off that performance. (Replay)

Other winners of note on the card included Mewstone Rocket in Race 3 who came from off the pace to win in good fashion, Memory Bound in Race 7 who romped in one of the staying races on the program and in the last you could quite easily follow both the winner Paw Sa Prize and the Runner-Up Vapour Lee, both will be winning soon.
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Bendigo Results & Replays: Click Here
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Sunday was feature race day at Healesville up the straight and we saw the finals contested of the Healesville Oaks and Derby. The first to kick off was the Oaks Final and what a wonderful race it was, with 100m to go you didn’t know where to look with 5 of them stretched across the track but it was Kirabilli Rosie (2) for Raymond Drew who was able to finish the better and claim the $6260 first prize.

Shankill Mo (1) charged home along the rails to grab 2^nd and the unlucky runner may have been the favourite Amelia Christa (7) who got interfered with at a crucial time and lost momentum winding up 3^rd. Click Here for James Van de Maat’s call of the Oaks.

The other feature was the Derby final and we had a short priced favourite in the Kel Greenough prepared Allkel To Excel (8). He came out revving from his outside box, sailed across them to lead comfortably and from there it was all over and bolted away to win by a big space. He has now won 9 of 10 and he may perhaps be something very special indeed. Second in the race was Conspiracy (5) who just nailed Red Light Runner (4) for that prize but they were no match for the winner who was on another planet. Click Here to watch Allkel To Excel’s Derby Romp.

Other impressive winners on the card included Alberts Patch in the first, Scintillating living up to his name in Race 7, Lil Arthur who won by a distance in Race 10 and Splash of White who won the last race in fast time.

That was the week that was in the North East of the state, hope you found a winner or 2. Until next week good luck and good punting.
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Healesville Results & Replays: Click Here
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[youtube youtubeurl=”bkbjoY1LU_I” ][/youtube]
Kirabilli Rosie (2) wins the Healesville Oaks in 29.638sec.
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Pictured top: Kirabilli Rosie with Ray and Jan Drew. Inset: Allkel To Excel with trainer Kel Greenough.
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