Up Hill Jill and Striker Light are the two best female greyhound sprinters in Australia and the Victorian pair will renew acquaintances on the biggest stage of all in Friday night’s $600,000 TAB Melbourne Cup (515m) at Sandown Park.
The pair’s head-to-head record stands at 4-4, and on Friday night, in the world’s richest greyhound race, they’ll be competing for greyhound racing’s biggest prize, a $420,000 winner’s cheque.
The similarities between the pair is uncanny, and not just because of their virtually identical get-out-and-go racing styles that so often leaves their opposition eating their dust.
They were born just 12 days apart, there is just 0.3 kilograms between them and, remarkably, despite accumulating 90 starts combined, their prize money earnings are separated by just $2,396. To top it off they both reside on the outskirts of Geelong, just 10 kilometres apart.
TAB’s ‘Old Foes’ Special: Up Hill Jill ($1.65) v Striker Light ($2.25)
“They both keep making the big finals together,” said Striker Light’s part-owner and media identity, George Farrugia. “It has got to the point that it would actually feel strange if Striker Light made a group final and Up Hill Jill wasn’t in it. They’ve met three times in Group 1 finals before, with Striker Light winning the Futurity and the Golden Easter Egg, but Up Hill Jill got one back in the Topgun last month.”
Farrugia is a fan of Up Hill Jill, and said he may one day approach her owners David and Rose Geall about a possible pup swap.
“I’d love a pup out of Up Hill Jill and I’m sure David and Rose wouldn’t mind a pup out of Striker Light either,” he said.
Astonishingly, only three female greyhounds have won the Melbourne Cup since 1990, and despite their exceptional talent, Up Hill Jill ($9) and Striker Light ($15) are outsiders in what many experts say is the most talent-laden Melbourne Cup of all time.
