There have been some brilliant ‘maiden’ efforts in sports history.

Three of the most notable Australian debuts involve Olympians Edwin Flack, Betty Cuthbert and Ian Thorpe.

But when it comes to greyhounds and distance racing, staying debuts don’t come any better than Zoha Bale’s powerhouse performance at Sandown Park last Thursday night.

Trained by Mark Delbridge, Zoha Bale ($1.40F) ‘came from the clouds’ to clock an astonishing 41.395sec – only 4L off the 715m track record of 41.157sec set by Here’s Tears on January 30, 2020.

WATCH: “Whooshka”… ZOHA BALE (B2) makes a devastating distance debut at Sandown Park last week.

Zoha Bale – a son of The Meadows 525m TR holder Allen Deed – eventually turned the Grade 5 event into an 8.5L romp and notched his fourth successive win.

In all, Zoha Bale – a finalist in the G3 Carnival Chase (600m) at Albion Park – has registered 14 wins, nine seconds and seven thirds from 43 starts and $98,640 in prizemoney.

Racecaller Danny Hibberd summed up last week’s win to perfection over the concluding stages: “Here comes Zoha Bale very, very quickly… Who went ‘whooshka’… Have a look at this, Zoha Bale’s going to win by 10 and he ‘gave away to the bell’… And that is brilliant! That is amazing!”

So, it’s little wonder Zoha Bale (Box 2) is Sportsbet’s raging hot $1.65F for the $17,835 Victorian National Distance final (730m) – Race 7, 8.22pm – at The Meadows on Thursday night.

“I suppose it had to come from somewhere, so you could say he’s a ‘throwback’ to his grandmother.”

The race carries a $12,000 first prize and the winner progresses to the National Distance grand final – also at The Meadows on August 26 – worth $85,000 to the winner.

Zoha Bale switched between middle distance and sprinting from mid-October last year until his dazzling distance debut, which had Delbridge in complete awe.

“The time was really surprising, I would have been happy with 42.10sec,” he said. I reckon if he wasn’t checked early, he would have given the track record a shake.

“But I said this dog will run ‘700’ after he’d only had a handful of starts. However, he’s had a few niggling setbacks that delayed a start to his staying career.”

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Zoha Bale has drawn Box 2 in the final and Delbridge says, “I prefer him inside than outside” adding, “I thought he was better suited at The Meadows than Sandown until last week”.

He’s won four races, with two seconds and one third, from 10 starts exiting the ‘check’ trap.

Zoha Bale has also won three 600m middle distance races at The Meadows but debuts over the testing 730m journey.

Paradoxically, Zoha Bale appears bred on sprinting lines. But that anomaly is deceptive until you delve further into his pedigree.

His maternal granddam, Irma Bale, is a dual G1 Sandown Cup winner (2012 & 2013) and finished second in the 2012 G1 Superstayers.

“I suppose it had to come from somewhere, so you could say he’s a ‘throwback’ to his grandmother,” Delbridge said.

In reference to the Vic NDC final, Delbridge added: “You can’t be blamed for having a degree of confidence after last week’s run. As long as he doesn’t get hampered early, he’s got a great chance of winning.”

It may well be a big night for Delbridge who also has Yachi Bale (Box 2) – a litter brother of Zoha Bale – and Landyn Bale (Box 8) in the $17,835 Victorian National Sprint final (525m) – Race 8, 8.43pm.

“On paper, Landyn Bale should lead and if he does that, he’s a chance,” Delbridge said. “And if Yachi Bale gets a clear run, you know what he can do coming from behind. He showed that in the Melbourne Cup.”