Breeder Angela Langton couldn’t be prouder of her young greyhound Hasten Slowly as he prepares to line up in Saturday night’s $357,000 Group 1 Australian Cup at The Meadows over 525 metres.
Hasten Slowly, who is also owned and trained by Langton, is the most inexperienced greyhound in the $250,000 to-the-winner Australian Cup, having had just 14 starts in his career for seven wins including a brilliant heat victory last Saturday night in 30.04 seconds.
“He’s a beautiful dog and whenever you breed a litter of pups they become part of your family. You spend so much time with them and to see them grow up and to go on to win races, let alone make a Group 1 final is a great thrill,” Langton told SEN’s Jack Heverin on The Sporting Capital on Tuesday.
“He only just turned two last week, so for a young dog he has achieved an awful lot already. It’s only early days in his career and hopefully he’ll keep improving and down the track make a few more group finals for us.”
Hasten Slowly has opened up as an $18 chance with TAB, and Langton said an upset is not out of the question for her youngster.
“It would be a terrific race to win. Unfortunately, he probably drew badly with box 7, (because) you always hope to draw an inside box at The Meadows. At least he’s in there and you’re always a bit of a chance of winning because it’s an even field. He can begin well and he is pretty strong, so if he is among the first two or three greyhounds going around the first corner anything can happen,” she said.
While Langton is hoping to land her first Australian Cup, she believes the Glenn Rounds-trained Chasin’ Crackers (box 3) is the greyhound to beat.
“I think Chasin’ Crackers is going to get plenty of room to move because Raw Ability (box 4) moves off the track a little bit. If Chasin’ Crackers can begin well like he did last week…he’s a strong dog and he’s very experienced as has been in a few group finals, (so) I think he’ll be the one to beat,” she said.
Based near Geelong in Anakie, Langton and her mother Sue Smith have an outstanding record as greyhound breeders, having won 14 group races with greyhounds they have bred.
“I’ve been breeding for a long time I’ve got to the point where I try to breed with dams (female greyhounds) that have won in the city and those than can run at least 500 or 600 metres. I think to breed a good dog you’ve got to breed with a good sire, feed well and giving them (your pups) plenty of galloping is the key. You’ve just got to let them run. I run mine from a very young age. They get a lot of galloping and a lot of handling and the best I can give them food-wise,” Langton said.
Admission into Saturday night’s Group 1 Australian Cup at The Meadows is FREE, with gates opening at 5:30pm. Be there for your chance to share in $60,000 worth of cash & prizes, plus don’t miss history in the making as Fanta Bale attempts to surpass Fernando Bale’s all-time Australian prize money record of $1.3 million in the Group 1 Australian Super Stayers over 725 metres at 8:18pm.
For full details go to themeadows.org.au
