Quinlan quickest in Healesville Cup heats

Quinlan Bale is the fastest qualifier for the 2023 G2 Healesville Cup 📷 Clint Anderson

Sunday, 03 Sep, 2023,
by Gerard Guthrie

Quinlan quickest in Healesville Cup heats

2022 runner-up Quinlan Bale threw down the gauntlet to series favourites Unleash Collinda and Maybe Yesterday when setting the pace in Sunday’s Group 2 Sportsbet Healesville Cup (350m) heats.

Quinlan Bale, trained by Danny Gibbons, produced the standout performance in the first of five heats, and will be striving to make amends for his narrow defeat at the hands of Sacred Stance twelve months ago in next Sunday’s $55,000 to-the-winner Cup Final.

A litter brother and kennelmate to country cups ‘queen’ Kelsey Bale, Quinlan Bale finished a close fourth in the Victorian Straight Track Championship late last month, beaten just 1.8 lengths by eventual National champion Unleash Collinda.

Drawn in box one, Quinlan Bale started $1.80 favourite in Sunday’s opening run-off and set a time standard the other heat winners weren’t able to match.

WATCH: “That was a devastating win!” QUINLAN BALE (B1) produced the standout performance in Sunday’s G2 Healesville Cup heats, clocking a scorching BOD 18.995sec.

The June ’20 son of Feral Franky and Ethla Allen trounced NSW visitor Oscar Moses ($2.60), which ran third in the G3 National Straight Track Grand Final, by 6.36 lengths in a Best Of Day 18.995sec.

It was Quinlan Bale’s 30^th win from 73 starts, while he’s won four from nine over 350m at Healesville, finishing second in four of his defeats, with his heat time just .015sec outside his 18.98sec PB.

Quinlan Bale enjoyed a purple patch of form during last year’s Healesville Festival of Racing, winning the Victorian Straight Track Championship, with litter brother and kennelmate Nicolson Bale filling the quinella, and the inaugural The Arrow match race series.

Next Sunday will be Quinlan Bale’s fourth appearance in a Victorian country cup decider and he’ll be chasing a breakthrough Group victory, having run third to sister Kelsey Bale in this year’s Ballarat Cup Final and third to Typhoon Sammy in last year’s Bendigo Cup.

GROUP 2
HEALESVILLE CUP HEAT
WINNERS
(fastest to slowest)

18.995sec Quinlan Bale
19.06sec Maybe Yesterday
19.09sec Deadly Rookie
19.11sec Unleash Collinda
19.22 sec Gunai Bold

Quinlan Bale has also contested the G3 Bob Payne Sprint, G3 Cup Night Sprint at Sandown, and G3 Mount Gambier Cup.

Danny and Rebecca Gibbons came within a neck of claiming a heat double in the fourth qualifier when Nicolson Bale ($2.20F), which finished sixth in last year’s Cup Final, finished second to Deadly Rookie, trained by Garry Selkrig, in 19.09sec.

Nicolson Bale will join his brother in contesting back-to-back Healesville Cup finals, advancing as one of the fastest second placegetters.

Other highlights from Sunday’s Cup heats were:

The ‘King of Healesville’, Unleash Collinda, will also be seeking Healesville Cup redemption after a 19.11sec heat victory. Trained by two-time Cup winner Jason Thompson, the newly crowned National and Victorian Straight Track champion ran fifth in last year’s final, beaten only 1.5 lengths, amazingly the only time the 350m and 300m track record holder has missed a first three finish in 22 starts ‘up the straight’.
The second fastest heat performance came from Unleash Collinda’s arch-rival and fellow course specialist Maybe Yesterday, trained by Andrew Paraskevas. Runner-up in both the National and Victorian Straight Track Finals, Maybe Yesterday was a 19.06sec heat winner.
After exiting box one in his flying heat victory, Quinlan Bale will move to eight for the final, with Unleash Collinda to exit box three and Maybe Yesterday allocated seven, the same alley he had in his heat victory.

Group 2 Healesville Cup Heats - UNLEASH COLLINDA - Feature Image

Unleash Collinda won his G2 Healesville Cup heat in 19.11sec. 📷 Clint Anderson

Gerard Guthrie

One of Australia’s leading greyhound racing journalists since 2000 with the Greyhound Recorder and now with Greyhound Racing Victoria. Part-owner 2013 Group 1 Paws Of Thunder winner Sheikha. (The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of GRV)