Ageless staying king Tornado Tears became only the seventh Australian greyhound in history to crack the million-dollar stakes barrier with a sensational win in tonight’s Group 1 Topgun Stayers (725m) at The Meadows.
The rising five-year-old won a $75,000 first prize and spiralled his earnings to $1,003,835. It was also his 6th G1 win!
Trained at Lara by Robert Britton, Tornado Tears (Feb ’16 Fernando Bale x Tears Siam) defied the naysayers who believed his career was at the crossroads a few month ago.
But “Batman”, as he’s known due to his mask-like facial markings, showed that champions ‘get off the canvas’ and once again proved himself a staying superhero. He’ll go down as one of the all-time staying greats!
And, in a superhero training effort, Britton quinellaed the race. Amazingly, Here’s Tears – a younger full brother of Tornado Tears – finished second.
WATCH: Tornado Tears (6) comes from the clouds in the Topgun Stayers to score arguably the best win of his decorated career.
Jumping well from Box 6, Tornado Tears – who finished fourth to Blue Moon Rising in last year’s Topgun Stayers – was beaten for early pace and found himself fifth, around 10L off the lead, with a lap to travel. But, as is his norm, he persisted with a rails run, and the heavens magically opened turning for home.
Owned by the Millmi syndicate (managed by Camilla Limon), Tornado Tears ($6.40) crossed the line 2.44L ahead of Here’s Tears ($3.40), with last year’ s runner-up Just Terms ($15.50) a further 0.06L away third in 42.59sec.
It was Tornado Tears’ 35th win from 67 starts and his ninth win from 13 starts over the 725m journey at The Meadows. He’s now won his past three starts.
His elated handler, Peter Riley, could hardly contain himself, saying “million-dollar greyhound are as rare as hens’ teeth”
“The past few months he’s been a new dog. He tries all the time and he proved what he can do,” he added. “He’s just a great dog and loves racing, and we love racing him.”
