If you asked champion Lara trainer David Geall four weeks ago, who he’d be preparing for a Melbourne Cup, he’d have responded with the name Barefoot Zulu as quick as his burgeoning star jumps out of the boxes.
Yet, on the eve of greyhound racing’s most prestigious race, it’s instead a well-exposed three-year-old named Spritely Sian who will represent the dual Cup-winning kennel at Sandown Park in the biggest test of her career, in a race worth $500,000 to the winner and even more in glory and clout.
As regular the gaps between Olympic Games and FIFA World Cup campaigns, Geall has won greyhound racing’s most coveted prize, claiming his first Melbourne Cup with My Redeemer in 2017 and his second with Koblenz in 2021.
Four years on, he has a chance to win his third. But Geall is simply rapt to be in the race, given his bitch is the rank outsider.
“We don’t expect her to go well, we’re just happy we made the final,” Geall said with pessimism.
“The owners are happy they’ve made a Melbourne Cup final after 40-odd years. But I don’t think she’ll run like a 50-1 chance.
“I’d love her to run a place or run fourth, it’d be great. She’s already achieved a dream for the owners, so anything is a bonus.”
But greyhounds don’t know their price. Just ask the connections of Schillaci, who won the world’s richest greyhound race, The Phoenix, in 2023 when priced by the bookies as the rank outsider.
As Geall knows better than most, the race can be run and won by the first turn. Both of his Cup champions led their races and couldn’t be caught.
Spritely Sian has the early speed to find the front. Whether she can hold off her rivals over the final 50 metres is another question.
