New track record holder Typhoon Sammy (Box 7) is TAB’s $2 favourite to hand champion trainer Jason Thompson a fifth victory in the $71,250 Group 2 Chasers Function Centre Bendigo Cup final (425m), to be held on Saturday night.
Typhoon Sammy is a son of 2017 Melbourne Cup winner and Bendigo Cup placegetter Aston Dee Bee, which was trained by Thompson and wife Seona, whose previous Bendigo Cup wins came with El Galo (2008), Peggy May (2012), Ronan Izmir (2013) and Aston Bolero (2016).
After starting his career in Northern NSW, Typhoon Sammy relocated to Victoria and is yet to taste defeat in five appearances for the powerful Thompson kennel, boosting his imposing overall record to 16 from 23 when smashing Bendigo’s 425m track record in last Saturday night’s Cup heats.
Typhoon Sammy ran 23.28sec to break the previous benchmark of 23.35sec, set by former superstar Shima Shine in last year’s heats.
But while Typhoon Sammy, which moves from Box 1 to Box 7 for the $50,000 to-the-winner final, is dominating Cup discussions, it’s by no means a one-act affair, with boom talent Paua Of Buddy (Box 1), Dr. Tucker (Box 4) and country cups ‘king’ Ferdinand Boy (Box 5) all lining up for a crack at the even-money favourite.
Recently crowned Warragul 400m record holder Paua Of Buddy, trained by Steve White, is the $3.90 second elect after drawing the coveted rails alley, ahead of William McMahon’s Dr. Tucker at $4.40, which produced the second quickest heat performance, just outside Shima Shine’s previous record at his third start from an enforced spell.
Incredibly, Ferdinand Boy, which has already won the Ballarat, Healesville and Shepparton Cups in 2021, as well as the accompanying $50,000 bonus for claiming three country cups in a calendar year, is on the fourth line of betting at $6.50.
That would be Ferdinand Boy’s longest starting price since the Listed Western Districts Derby final at Geelong back on February 10 – 29 starts ago – underlining the incredible depth of Saturday’s field.
The ‘Big Four’ dominate the market, with the remaining finalists all double figures.
Dual G1 finalist Shima Classic (Box 3) is at $13, the underrated Perfect Colour (Box 2) could represent value at $26, while Graeme Jose’s pair Lots Of Chatter (Box 8) and Aston Shine (Box 6) are the outsiders of a stellar line-up at $31 and $51 respectively.
