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  • Saturday, 16 Jan, 2021,
  • by Peter Quilty

‘Eric’ flies high in Warragul Cup

‘Comeback king’ Aeroplane Eric capped off an amazing return to racing with victory in tonight’s $67,000 Group 2 Evans Petroleum Warragul Cup (460m).

He turned the tables on superstar Shima Shine, who defeated him in track record time in last week’s heats.

It’s been a fantastic training effort by Devon Meadows trainer Glenn Rounds to get Aeroplane Eric back on the track after twice breaking a stopper bone.

The lightly raced flying machine, who had a four-month spell between August and December, has been brilliant in four starts since resuming. But his $47,000 first prize collect in Warragul GRC’s blue riband sprint was the icing on the cake!

WATCH: AEROPLANE ERIC (1) zipped past early pacesetter ASTON GWEN (2) before holding off the fast-finishing EQUALIZER (8) and the unlucky SHIMA SHINE (6) to take out tonight’s Group 2 Warragul Cup.

Utilising Box 1 to perfection, Aeroplane Eric ($4.40) held off the barnstorming finish of ‘new kid on the block’ Equalizer ($7.60) by a half-length, with the unlucky Shima Shine ($2.20F) three and a half lengths away third in 25.44sec.

Equalizer’s performance was phenomenal, while G1 Topgun winner Shima Shine was also gallant.

Owned by the Wasted syndicate, managed by Warragul-based Jason Woodbridge, Aeroplane Eric (March 2018 Knocka Norris x Lonesome Jett) registered his 10th win from 19 starts and his prizemoney spiralled to $74,299.

A nervous and tired Aeroplane Eric reduced Rounds to saying: “There’s been a lot of time and healing, and we don’t know what’s around the corner.” But he had said in the lead-up to the final that Aeroplane Eric was “a big chance and he deserves it”.

Rounds also had Amarillo Highway ($42.30), who finished fourth, in the final.

Meanwhile, Faithy Bale ($1.80) upset ‘ultimate professional’ Tiggerlong Tonk ($1.50F) in a sensational $10,000-winner-take-all Cup Night Match Race (460m). The dynamic duo was locked together during the entire journey.

Trained by Andrea Dailly, Faithy Bale defeated Tiggerlong Tonk – a seven-time G1 finalist – by a half-length in 25.77sec.

WATCH: FAITHY BALE (1) shows enormous character to hold off the mighty TIGGERLONG TONK (3) in a thrilling Cup Night Match Race at Warragul this evening, much to the surprise of the majority of punters.

Faithy Bale – a finalist in the G2 Warrnambool Cup (4th), G3 Cup Night Sprint (5th) and G3 Silver Bullet (6th) – notched her 21st win from 56 starts, with stakes totalling $134,615.

And classy stayer Sunset Bourbski claimed the $10,000-to-the-winner Warragul Distance Cup (680m).

Trained by Andrea Dailly, Sunset Bourbski ($2.00F) scored a miraculous win, coming from last with around 400 metres to travel to defeat kennelmate Zipping Ticket ($7.60) by one and a half lengths in 39.02sec.

The dual G1 finalist notched her 14th win from 43 starts and lifted her earnings to $120,450. It was also her fourth win in six starts from Box 2.

WATCH: SUNSET BOURBSKI (2) makes up more than 10 lengths to score an incredible victory in the Warragul Distance Cup.

Pawnote: The Warragul Cup was the second of three group races tied into greyhound racing’s 2020/21 Gippsland Festival of Racing, along with the G1 Sale Cup (650m) – won in eye-catching fashion by Houdini Boy on Boxing Day – and the G2 Cranbourne Cup (520m) to be held on 6 February.

Photos by Clint Anderson

Peter QuiltyPeter Quilty

Peter Quilty

Peter Quilty has more than three decades of experience as assistant editor of Victorian Greyhound Weekly. He was editor of GRV monthly magazine The Adviser (2001-09) and owner/publisher of Australian Greyhound Monthly. He also served on the selection panel for the inaugural GRV ‘Hall of Fame’ inductees and for several years was an adjudicator on the Victorian GOTY. He’s also published greyhound racing yearbooks and wrote the ‘Bold Trease’ video script.

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