Will it be a case of third time lucky in the $74,800 Group 2 Geelong Gold Cup Final (520m) this Friday night for veteran country cups specialist Yozo Bale?

The Geelong Gold Cup, offering a $50,000 first prize, is the third leg of Greyhound Racing Victoria’s Western Festival of Racing, which will see more than $700,000 in prizemoney distributed.

Click HERE  for TAB’s latest Geelong Gold Cup Final market

Yozo Bale, trained locally at Anakie by young star Correy Grenfell, will incredibly be making his third appearance in the Geelong Gold Cup Final, having finished second in 2021 and eighth in 2020.

While the son of the great Fernando Bale turned four in March and will be having his 93^rd race start in the final, age hasn’t wearied him.

He was runner-up in the Group 2 Ballarat Cup Final earlier this month and produced the second-fastest heat performance of the six Geelong Cup runoffs held at the historic Good Friday meeting.

KEY TIMES

7:07pm First race
8:08pm Gary Brett Memorial Match Race (Race 4)  Titan Blazer v Orlando ?
8:30pm First leg of Quaddie (Race 5)
8:53pm Cup Night Distance (Race 6)
9:27pm G2 Geelong Gold Cup Final
10:54pm Last race (Race 12)

Yozo Bale (Box 3) shares TAB favouritism at $2.70 with fastest qualifier Kysaiah (Box 5).

Prepared by Carly Feltham at Devon Meadows, Kysaiah, named after Melbourne Demons AFL premiership star Kysaiah Pickett, is at the other end of the spectrum, when it comes to age and experience.

Two years younger than Yozo Bale, Kysaiah, the winner of 13 of his 24 starts, will be making his first appearance in a Group event this Friday night.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION
– Watch every race live and free on Sky Racing.
– Live broadcast from the track with Troy Harley, Brooke Ennis and Corey Smith on The Watchdog app and at watchdog.grv.org.au.
– Behind the scenes Twitter coverage with ‘@WatchDogRacing’.
– Regular updates with Trent Langskaill on RSN Racing and Sport (927 AM).

The other runners at single figures in TAB’s market are recent Group 2 Shepparton Cup winner and Group 2 Ballarat Cup placegetter Substantial (Box 4) and Group 3 Country Championship runner-up Aston Merit (Box 2), both at $6.50.

Two other features will also take place on the card – the inaugural $10,000 winner-take-all Gary Brett Memorial Match Race (520m) between Group 1 Australian Cup finalists Titan Blazer and Orlando, and the $9,450 Cup Night Distance Special Event (680m).

POINTS OF INTEREST

HISTORY BOOKS
The Geelong Cup was first run in 1962, won by Darkie Bobs. The Cup distance changed to 520m in 2020, when won by ill-fated champion Simon Told Helen.

LOCAL FLAVOUR
Locals have won the past two Cup finals – Simon Told Helen (2020) and Weblec Jet (2021) – and there’s an excellent chance of a home-track hat-trick, with six of the eight finalists trained in the Geelong region; Winnington Bale (Rebecca Gibbons, Avalon), Aston Merit (Jessica Sharp, Avalon), Yozo Bale and Unathi Bale (Correy Grenfell, Anakie), Storm Stroller (Paul Bartolo, Little River) and Emani Bale (Daniel Gibbons, Avalon).

MULTIPLE RUNNERS
Prominent young locals, Correy Grenfell (Yozo Bale and Unathi Bale) and former pro wrestlers Daniel and Rebecca Gibbons (Emani Bale and Winnington Bale), have multiple finalists.

THIRD TIME LUCKY?
Yozo Bale, the veteran of the field with 92 starts, is chasing his third country cup crown after winning the Bendigo and Ballarat Cups in 2020. This will be Yozo Bale’s seventh appearance in a country cup final and is remarkably the third time he’s qualified for the Geelong Gold Cup Final.

FIRST TIMERS
Five finalists will be making their first appearance in a Group event – Winnington Bale, Kysaiah, Storm Stroller, Emani Bale and Unathi Bale.

GIRL POWER
Female trainers prepare three of the eight finalists – Rebecca Gibbons (Winnington Bale), Jessica Sharp (Aston Merit) and Carly Feltham (Kysaiah). Emani Bale is the only female greyhound in the race. The last female sprinter to win the Geelong Gold Cup was Shima Song in 2016.

Group 2 GEELONG GOLD CUP FINAL (520m)
Geelong Race 8, Friday 9:27pm
First prize $50,000
1 WINNINGTON BALE (Rebecca Gibbons, Avalon VIC)
2 ASTON MERIT (Jessica Sharp, Avalon VIC)
3 YOZO BALE (Correy Grenfell, Anakie VIC)
4 SUBSTANTIAL (Anthony Azzopardi, Rowsley VIC) ?
5 KYSAIAH (Carly Feltham, Devon Meadows VIC)
6 STORM STROLLER (Paul Bartolo, Little River VIC)
7 EMANI BALE (Daniel Gibbons, Avalon VIC)
8 UNATHI BALE (Correy Grenfell, Anakie VIC)
Reserves
9 WEBLEC RANGER  SCRATCHED
10 TITAN BLAZER  SCRATCHED

GEELONG GOLD CUP HEAT WINNERS
Friday 15 April
(fastest to slowest)

29.75sec Kysaiah ?
29.85sec Yozo Bale
29.97sec Aston Merit
29.99sec Emani Bale
30.04sec Unathi Bale
30.13sec Winnington Bale

RECENT GEELONG GOLD CUP WINNERS

2012 Hurunui Hitman (Stephen McKenna, Napoleons VIC)
2013 Black Magic Opal (Jason Thompson, Pearcedale VIC)
2014 Luca Neveelk (Gerald Kleeven, Denison VIC)
2015 Dalgetty (Jason Thompson, Pearcedale VIC)
2016 Shima Song (Andrea Dailly, Lara VIC)
2017 Thirty Talks (Tony Brett, Grandchester QLD)
2018 Aston Kimetto (Seona Thompson, Pearcedale VIC)
2019 Hooked On Scotch (Jason Thompson, Pearcedale VIC)
2020 Simon Told Helen (David Burnett, Little River VIC)
2021 Weblec Jet (Jeff Britton, Anakie VIC) ?

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