Champion sprinter Whiskey Riot is an easing $2 favourite on tab.com.au after drawing box eight for the Group 1 TAB Australian Cup final (525m) at The Meadows on Saturday night.
Trainer Anthony Azzopardi couldn’t conceal his disappointment with the wide draw, but did say that Whiskey Riot has been “getting out of the boxes better” and “has won from box eight”.
Since its inception in 1958, only nine greyhounds have won from the outside alley.
But Azzopardi can take heart from the fact two of the past three Australian Cup winners have exited from the ‘pink’ trap – Fanta Bale (2017) and Hecton Bale (2018).
Whiskey Riot will move into sixth place on Australia’s highest stakes earners list if he secures the cup’s $300,000 first prize.
Winner of last year’s G1 Melbourne Cup, Whiskey Riot’s prizemoney would catapult to $1,050,810 – ironically, just behind his older half-brother Mystic Riot ($1,056,964).
Whiskey Riot is racing at the top of his game. He was by far the quickest Australian Cup heat winner (29.47sec) and only a week earlier claimed the G1 Temlee at The Meadows.
Azzopardi also has Whiskey Riot’s litter brother, Fernando’s Riot, in the final. He has drawn awkwardly in box six.
The biggest firmer in the Australian Cup market is Aston Cade, who has tightened into $7.00 after drawing the coveted box one. His trainer, Andrea Dailly, has won five of the past 10 Australian Cups.
