Greyhound racing’s greatest rivalry will enter another chapter as Striker Light and Up Hill Jill meet for the 13th time in Saturday night’s Group 1 Perth Cup (520m) at Cannington.
The champion Victorian duo are joint TAB favourites at $3.50, ahead of young WA star West On Augie ($3.80) and Australian Cup winner Hecton Bale ($5.00), with the remaining finalists all at double figure odds.
Striker Light and Up Hill Jill have raced against each other on 12 occasions, with Up Hill Jill holding a 7-5 lead, while they have met eight times at group level for a 4-4 score line.
The similarities between the pair is remarkable, as they were born just two weeks apart, they are both black in colour and they both weigh 29 kilograms.
Up Hill Jill has won 37 races from 69 starts and earned $791,496 in prize money (sixth highest in Australia’s history), while Striker Light has had 25 wins from 53 starts and won $635,400 (11th of all time).
RSN form expert George Farrugia, who is a part-owner in Striker Light, was delighted with his greyhound’s heat win in which she came from behind to score in 29.87sec, five lengths shy of the fastest heat winner West On Augie (29.55sec).
“To come from behind and win like she did was a pretty gutsy performance. It was her first look at the track so if things go her way she should improve in the final and I’m very happy she is drawn in box two. It’s a tough final though, with early speed coming from the likes of Up Hill Jill and West On Augie, while Hecton Bale has plenty of strength so if he is sitting behind the leaders he will be hard to hold out,” he said.
The last Victorian greyhound to win the Perth Cup was My Bro Fabio in 2015.
