On Thursday night, The Meadows will host one of the best races of the year – anywhere in Australia. The Victorian Sprint final has a field where most of the finalists would walk into a Topgun.
It’s an annual example that there is no jurisdiction with the depth of quality like Victoria.
Between them, the eight finalists have banked over $4.2M in prize money. They’ve won 167 of 394 starts – and landed on the podium in 74% of their races.
They do battle on Thursday night with the aim of representing the ‘Big V’ in the Group 1 National Sprint Final at Q2 Parklands in Queensland on Saturday August 30.
Based on their performances in heats we’re looking at an average time of 29.70sec – extremely fast. Just two lengths separates all of their times, meaning one misstep early in the final will likely end winning chances.
As one of the GCA Wildcards (Greyhound Clubs Australia’s two top ranked greyhounds), Flying Zulu is already guaranteed a berth in the National final – win, lose or draw.
With the race being so competitive, it’s unlikely to be won by a greyhound outside of the first three at the post the first time. Even after going through the Race Data, we’re splitting hairs to separate these guns.
I think the track position of Slick Splits in box 1 is going to be crucial. He’ll be hard to cross running between 5.00-5.10 to the first split, combined with his habit to push slightly wide, which could put those outside of him off stride.
It’s Race 8 on Thursday’s card at The Meadows, with the Victorian Distance final Race 6. See extended pre-race coverage for all of Australia’s state finals on Sky Racing 1.
