Elsa almost frozen out


A nomination mix-up almost cost Midnight Elsa her tilt at RSN927 Sandown Cup history on Thursday night.

Midnight Elsa has quickly become one of the most exciting staying prospects in the country. The $8 chance with TAB ran an impressive second behind three-time group 1 winner Fanta Bale in last week’s heats, but trainer Seona Thompson admitted she was fortunate to be taking her place in the series.

  VIDEO: RSN927 Sandown Cup Preview

“I must admit, I missed a race at Bendigo that she should have had about three weeks ago,” said Thompson.

“They were 0-4 win heats over 660m at which would have been perfect for her. I dropped the kids off at school and remembered at about 10 past 9 that I hadn’t nominated.

“From there we nominated for about three meetings and couldn’t get a run with her and things weren’t looking good for the Cup because she wasn’t going to have anything further than one 600m run under her belt.

“I entered her for a race at Sale and I kept looking at the nominations, it didn’t look good! It was a relief when I got the text saying there was a race, she ended up winning and gave every indication that she’s going to run the 700m. If she didn’t get that race at Sale, she probably wouldn’t be in the Sandown Cup.”

In modern times, no greyhound has won the RSN927 Sandown Cup with fewer than 23 career starts, and Midnight Elsa enters Thursday night’s final with just five race starts to her name. Despite the enormity of the task ahead of ‘Elsa,’ her rapid rise through the ranks came as little surprise to Thompson who was optimistic the Dave and Danielle Pringle owned chaser would be something pretty special even before making her racing debut.

Midnight Elsa only arrived at Awesome Lodge in March, a week after a scintillating performance trial at Bathurst that saw her run within two lengths of the 520m track record. She followed that up with a win on her racing debut in a maiden final at The Meadows running 29.88 – just two lengths outside Betty’s Angel maiden record – before finding trouble in the final.

“The fact the Pringles sent down a bitch was a bit out of the ordinary. We train a lot of dogs for them but have never trained a bitch, and Dave doesn’t send them down unless he’s 100 per cent sure they’ll make the grade.

“She didn’t actually come down for the Sandown Cup. The plan was to work through some other races but after finding trouble in that maiden final we decided to step her up in distance.

“She excites me, it won’t surprise me if she’s thereabouts in the final, and it wouldn’t surprise me if she goes on to be a top line stayer.”

The Pringles have a two-pronged attack on the RSN Sandown Cup, with Burn One Down the $1.90 TAB favourite for the final. Burn One Down is one of the country’s most popular chasers with his drop-out-and-run-on racing style. For Thompson to win a race like the Sandown Cup for such supportive owners would be an enormous thrill.

“They’re a dream to train for and have become very good friends. They’re very similar to us, they’ve got three young kids and do it all as a family, same as it is for us. For us, it’s not just Jason and me, it’s the four kids as well.

That family involvement will be evident on Thursday night when Seona (Trip To Eden), her husband Jason (Burn One Down) and youngest son Luke (Midnight Elsa) are on handling duties. Their oldest son Ben, one of the state’s leading apprentice jockeys, will be a keen onlooker from Pakenham races, while daughters Holly and Sophie will be cheering the team on from the stands.

“Ben handled a Melbourne Cup winner (Got A Moment in 2012), so I’ll be a pretty emotional mum if Luke handles the Sandown Cup winner. If Elsa wins mum will be a blubbering mess!”

Cameraemoji2The Thompson family – Holly, Ben, Seona, Sophie, Luke and Jason – with Midnight Elsa and Bewildering

WATCH: Midnight Elsa impresses (box 4) impresses behind Fanta Bale

 

Thompson discusses her runners on Thursday night

Group 1 RSN927 Sandown Cup (race 8)
“It’s an unbelievable field. To have one runner in a group race is a thrill, to be turning up on Thursday night with three in the Cup, I keep pinching myself.”

Burn One Down (box 1) – Second start from box 1 in 39 standard races
Who know what he’s going to do. He won’t have that early pace to be at the front but he is very intelligent, hopefully there isn’t too much traffic in his way.”

Midnight Elsa (box 4) – Has had fewer starts than any RSN927 Sandown Cup finalist since 2000
“She excites me, it won’t surprise me if she’s thereabouts in the final, and it wouldn’t surprise me if she goes on to be a top line stayer.”

Trip To Eden (box 5) – Dual group 1 winner and placed in all 12 700m+ starts
“It’d be nice if he could jump to the front like he did in Sydney (when winning the group 1 Association Cup). He gives his best every time he goes around and will be doing his best at the line but will need a bit of luck.

 

Group 1 Harrison-Dawson (race 5)
“I’ve been in the dogs since a very young age and I’ve only ever known Geoff Dawson as the chairman of Sandown. It’s our home track so to win a race like that would be a real thrill.”

Bewildering (box 1) – Speed Star winner aiming for a third group win in May
“His confidence is sky high, he’s coming off two super runs at Sandown and now drawn box 1 – we couldn’t ask for any more.”

Invictus Rapid (box 5)Lining up in his 8th group final
“He’s had a few niggles along the way and had a bit of time off. Sharon and George Zogoulas (owners) do a great job with their dogs, they’re lovely people and the dogs are their whole world and idolize this dog. He’s back 100% fit and healthy, the box draw doesn’t really matter to him and he’ll have benefitted from his run in the heat. Hopefully he’ll be thereabouts at the finish.”

 

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Mick Floyd
About Mick Floyd - Mick is the Racing and Media Manager at Sandown Park and has 15 years of experience in the sport. He has a finely tuned talent for finding three legs of a quaddie. You can follow his ramblings on Twitter - @mickfloyd
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