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  • Friday, 20 Nov, 2015,
  • by James Van de Maat

Recapping a Massive Week of Metro Greyhound Racing

The Fernando Bale train rolled on as both he and his dynamic kennel mate Dyna Double One wowed Australia in their heats of the 2015 TAB Melbourne Cup last week.

Metro racing once again began at The Meadows with 12 races conducted on Wednesday (Nov 12). The week began the way many expected it would with the $1.50 favourite winning the opening race at the metro venue.

Allen Phanto carried a promising debut into his second race outing in which he produced the goods with a dazzling show of mid race pace. The Steven Collins trained youngster flew to the back mark in 17.85 and was then able to defy the gallant Jaimandy Hatty in 30.01 (Replay).

The time standard for the meeting was set by Cashin’ In at a large price in the tenth as he ran his rivals ragged in a slick 29.99 (Replay).

Sandown Park Friday, where do we start? We were treated to a star-studded night of greyhound racing on Friday as 96 of the nation’s best began their journey to group one glory, in which only two will secure next week.

The big gun of the Melbourne Cup series bought his  ‘A game’ once again, which is quite simply what we’ve come to expect from Fernando Bale.
The world’s best greyhound speared the traps from the red alley recording a blistering 4.91 to the first peg, 18.41 off the back on the way to a controlled seven and a half length win in 29.06 (Replay).

His well followed kennel mate Dyna Double One was the only greyhound within lengths of the super star. In fact he was able to go one one hundredth quicker after running a surprising 5.00 to the first mark. He then went on to record a smashing 29.05 victory (Replay), booking another bout with the pin up boy of Australian greyhound racing.

The others who impressed in the Melbourne Cup heats included Secret Spell (Replay), Zipping Meg after overcoming early trouble in 29.55 (Replay) and Bearville Azza (Replay).
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WATCH: James does a lap of Sandown Park, outlining exactly how he belives Friday night’s TAB Melbourne Cup will unfold.

 

The four Bold Trease heats produced some supremely strong performances. Luna Jinx found herself leading so far from home in the first heat and she was able to clearly hold off Kraken Flash, who I thought was an awesome run in 41.94 (Replay).

Ryno’s Raider stepped up to win heat two from a very unlucky Bourbski Fever  in 42.13 (Replay) whilst the last of the heats were won by Kilkee Flex in 42.12 (Replay) and Come On Fantasy in 41.95 (Replay).

The Meadows on Saturday held the rich finals of the Ballarat to City for both the sprinters and the stayers. The sprint edition was won by the reserve, who took full advantage of gaining a start. Absolute Silence had been knocking on the door of a win after a few consistent runs and the Darren Pattinson prepared chaser picked the right one to win as he pocketed the $10,000 winners cheque over American Monster, who was a big effort after missing the kick (Replay).

The Ballarat to City stayers was won by Run Right Back, who quite simply kept going in the lead throughout as the others continued to find trouble behind. He arrived at the post in 43.17, which gave the greyhound his biggest win of his career (Replay).

The other of the features came up as the opening race of the night as Zulu Retreat caused a massive upset leading all of the way in 30.29 from box two (Replay).

Sandown on Sunday closed out a mammoth week of metro racing and the highlight for mine was the victory of the George Kantzidis trained Snooky in race ten. There’s no doubting the litter are going to be better suited over the 600m and beyond and she showed that with a powerful railing display which had her recording a smart 29.74 for the 515m (Replay).

Tune into the live and comprehensive coverage of tonight’s TAB Melbourne Cup meeting on RSN’s on-line digital radio channel – Carnival – featuring James Van de Maat (pictured) and George Farrugia. RSN CARNIVAL: CLICK HERE

James Van de MaatJames Van de Maat

James Van de Maat

RSN race caller with a love for greyhound racing. Owner, trainer and breeder with a driving passion to win a Group race. (The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of GRV)

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