Unleash Collinda further cemented his status as the king of Healesville with victory in the inaugural $50,000 Sportsbet Emerald Final (300m) on Sunday afternoon.
The track record holder over Healesville’s two distances, Unleash Collinda (Beast Unleashed – Audious Bell) was sent out the $1.70 favourite, and he didn’t let punters down, outlasting fastest heat winner Not For Profit after the pair had kicked away from the field.
The Jason Thompson-trained speedster made it five from five over the trip, 12 from 13 at the track and 21 from 31 across his entire career.
The Emerald consisted of eight x 4-dog heats which were run on Tuesday, with the eight fastest greyhounds making it through to Sunday’s $30,000 to-the-winner final, regardless of finishing position.
A huge crowd turned out for the occasion, with bus transfers organised as the Healesville Greyhound Association linked up with the Emerald Hotel in South Melbourne to create a ‘Sportsbet Bet with Mates Zone’.
Unleash Collinda clocked a time of 16.25sec, a few lengths shy of his 16.05sec track record, however he defeated a hot line-up and was easily the fastest 300m performer of the day.
