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  • Friday, 05 Jul, 2019,
  • by Gerard Guthrie

Sennachie’s record-breaking Brisbane romp

Sennachie after his Group 1 Brisbane Cup win with trainer Steven Bruce White and owner Kirin Corby. Images supplied by Brisbane Greyhound Racing Club.

Brilliant Victorian youngster Sennachie continued his love affair with Queensland with a record-breaking victory in the Group 1 Sky Racing Brisbane Cup (520m) last Thursday night.

Trained by Steve White and owned by South Australians Kirin Corby and Bill Wudarczyk, Sennachie had previously won the Group 2 Queensland Derby and was in a winning position in the Group 3 Flying Amy Classic when he met with severe interference.

“I’m not sure what it is about Brisbane,” Steve White said.

“You hear about horses going up there for the Winter Carnival and thriving in the warmer weather so I couldn’t see why it wouldn’t do the same thing for a dog.

“I’ve left him up there for seven weeks with Mick and Selena Zammit – they’re Group 1 trainers – and I’ve been flying up and back.”

Sennachie was the $3.70 second elect from box two in the star-studded Brisbane Cup, with the other key players favourite Black Opium ($2.80) and Group 1 winners Dyna Patty ($5) and Zipping Bailey ($5.50).

Sennachie was best to begin, leading outsider Nangar Diva ($41), and he dominated from there, defeating Black Opium by 3.75 lengths in a scorching 29.38s, breaking another Victorian star in Mepunga Blazer’s previous course record of 29.41s.

“He ran 29.60s when I trialled him at Albion Park and he won the Queensland Derby in 29.53s but you don’t think about breaking track records going into Group 1s,” White said.

“You could win a Group 1 in 32 seconds and it wouldn’t matter!

“On Wednesday Mick (Zammit) and I were having a cup of coffee and we thought Sennachie looked a lot better than last week. We kept it between us but we were pretty confident as long as he came out.

“He came out too good and when I saw he’d broken the track record it was no wonder they couldn’t catch him.”

A son of the great Fernando Bale and Rhonda Rocks, Sennachie boasts an imposing 12 from 20 record and secured a Group 1 trophy at his second attempt after running second to Barooga Brett in the Silver Chief in January at just his sixth start.

“He’s a pretty good dog; always has been,” said White.

“He’s been a sensation since he started. He won his first start at Angle Park by 18 lengths in 29.52s.

“He’s probably gone from strength to strength ever since he ran second in the Silver Chief. He’s just grown and matured.”

Having banked the Brisbane Cup’s $250,000 winner’s purse, Sennachie will now spearhead White’s assault on the heats of the Group 1 Maturity at The Meadows on July 20.

White is targeting the Maturity with littermates, Tauwitchere, the Group 2 Launching Pad victor, and Querencia, winner of the Group 3 Howard Ashton in Adelaide, while Sennachie’s sister Gwydion is a possibility, although White rates her as a potential staying star.

White added that ex-Queensland siblings Spotted Wolf, winner of the Group 3 Vince Curry Memorial Maiden in February, and Chief Fernando, which scored in 29.93s on Brisbane Cup night, will be joining his Buln Buln East kennels.

Gerard GuthrieGerard Guthrie

Gerard Guthrie

One of Australia’s leading greyhound racing journalists since 2000 with the Greyhound Recorder and now with Greyhound Racing Victoria. Part-owner 2013 Group 1 Paws Of Thunder winner Sheikha. (The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of GRV)

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