Whirlwind speedster Typhoon Sammy ‘hits’ Bendigo on Friday night.

The ‘country cups king in waiting’ is a short-priced $2.15 favourite for the $78,795 Group 2 Bendigo Cup (425m) – Race 8, 9.27pm – as he ‘storms’ towards a third provincial crown.

Prepared at Pearcedale by champion trainer Jason Thompson, Typhoon Sammy (Box 3) will not only collect $50,000 if successful in the final but also a $50,000 bonus for snaring three country cups in a calendar year. He reigned supreme in the G2 Traralgon Cup (January 26) and G2 Horsham Cup (March 4).

Amazingly, Thompson is striving to take home his fifth Bendigo Cup, having saluted with El Galo (2008), Peggy May (2012), Ronan Izmir (2013) and Aston Bolero (2016).

“Is he going to spear the lids, like in his heat, that’s the question.”

Typhoon Sammy (Jan ’19 Aston Dee Bee x Zabaleta) finished third in last year’s Bendigo Cup after setting a new track record (23.28sec) in a heat. He also finished third in last month’s G2 Healesville Cup.

Last Sunday, Typhoon Sammy ($2.10F) produced the second-fastest heat win (23.52sec). It was his 37^th win, including seven of his past nine, from 60 starts. He’s now won three races from four outings over 425m at Bendigo and has amassed $238,680 in prizemoney.

Typhoon Sammy has won five from seven from the ‘white’ trap (Box 3) and Thompson believes he’s probably better suited from there than the ‘red’ alley (Box 1) – albeit from which he’s won eight from nine.”

“He does tend to move out towards the middle of the track in the early stages,” Thompson said.

Typhoon Sammy rocketed out of the coveted ‘cherry’ draw in his heat, but Thompson says, “he’s not bulletproof out of the boxes; he doesn’t always ping out”.

“Is he going to spear the lids, like in his heat, that’s the question. But he’s a safe beginner; he doesn’t ‘fall out’ of the boxes.”

Thompson added that Typhoon Sammy’s main attribute is his acceleration.

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“He’s got a good first split but an even better second split.”

So, how does Typhoon Sammy compare with Thompson’s Bendigo Cup winning ‘fab four’?

“He’s similar to most of them, but more like Aston Bolero in his racing style. He normally needs 20 metres to get going and then he takes off.”

Typhoon Sammy ‘went home’ to his owners – the Dart family in Dulguigan, NSW – from early June to early August and campaigned at Grafton and Capalaba.

He finished fourth in the inaugural $75,000 to-the-winner The Thunderbolt (350m) on the U-bend at Grafton prior to winning the Trevor McSherry Classic (366m) by six lengths up the straight at Capalaba and then returned to the Thompson kennel for the Healesville Cup series.

Meanwhile, fastest Bendigo Cup heat honours went to Panadero Warrior ($8.40) – trained at Parwan by Paul Abela, which clocked a slick 23.48sec. A winner of eight races from only 17 starts, Panadero Warrior (Box 6) is $4.20 on sportsbet.com.au.

TYPHOON SAMMY ‘storms’ away as the second-fastest Bendigo Cup heat winner.

Avalon-based Jessica Sharp will rug two finalists – Aston Merit (Box 1) and Orson Mick (Box 4) – courtesy of their 23.69sec and 23.96sec heat wins. Subsequently they’re $5.50 and $34 in fixed odds betting.

Other heat winners and their box draw/odds for the final are Salad Dodger (23.67sec) – Box 7 ($7); Quinlan Bale (23.68sec) – Box 2 ($7.50); Shima Sheen (23.87sec) – Box 5 ($27); He’s No Slouch (23.89sec) – Box 8 ($35).

Pawnote: G2 Warragul Cup winner Robbie Rotten (Box 1) and triple G1 finalist Titan Blazer (Box 3) will face-off for a $10,000 first prize in the ‘Shima Shine at Stud’ Match Race (425m) – Race 9, 9.49pm.

WATCH: TYPHOON SAMMY (B1) ‘tornadoes’ to a 23.52sec Bendigo Cup heat win last Sunday.