As anticipated, star sprinters Do It, Aussie Secret and Ferdinand Boy will ‘fly the flag’ for Victoria in the Group 1 Hobart Thousand final (461m) on Thursday night.
The ‘terrific triumvirate’ are eyeing a $75,000 first prize in Australia’s oldest greyhound classic.
Trained by Jeff Britton, Do It is chasing his second G1, having taken out the Adelaide Cup in October. More recently, he finished third in the G1 Topgun and second in the G3 Cup Night Sprint.
Aussie Secret streaks away for an effortless 25.98sec heat win.
Do It ($1.60F) was one of two Victorians to win their Hobart Thousand heat (26.06sec) last night. The other being Aussie Secret ($1.35F), which clocked 25.98sec.
Prepared by Jason Thompson, Aussie Secret could supply his master trainer with a second Hobart Thousand trophy in three years. He won the event with Hooked On Scotch in 2019.
Aussie Secret was a recent G1 Melbourne Cup finalist. He was also a G1 Silver Chief finalist and won the Pink Diamond Short Course.
Triple G2 winner Ferdinand Boy ($1.80F), trained by David Geall, finished second, beaten a half-length, to ‘Tassie nemesis’ Superior Wallis ($2.25) in the fastest heat (25.82sec) – albeit his overall heat time (25.85sec) was faster than his compatriots.
HOBART THOUSAND
HEAT WINNERS
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Watch every heat replay HERE
Ferdinand Boy ran second to Superior Wallis in his heat – albeit with the quickest overall time (25.85sec) of the Vics. Photos: Tasracing
Ferdinand Boy also played second fiddle to Superior Wallis in the G3 Devonport Chase and Hobart Thousand Prelude – finishing second and sixth respectively – during the previous fortnight.
But never write off a champion! He’s won the G2 Shepparton Cup, G2 Ballarat Cup and G2 Healesville Cup, and holds Shepparton’s 450m track record (24.75sec).
Meanwhile, unheralded Victorian Mepunga Gertie (under the caretaker trainership of Eileen Thomas for Matt Lanigan) also qualified for the final when second in her heat.
Two nights after the Hobart Thousand, Geall and Thompson will have ‘bigger fish to fry’ when Koblenz and True Collinda chase a whopping $750,000 first prize in the inaugural TAB The Phoenix at The Meadows.
The box draw for the Hobart Thousand final will take place on Saturday night at a gala function held in conjunction with the Tasmanian Greyhound Racing Hall of Fame awards dinner.
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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