By George Farrugia

Australia’s best stayer Without A Trace will strive for her third Group 1 victory in a matter of months when lining up in heat four of the Sale Cup (640m) on Sunday night.

The white and black star will look to emulate her father Houdini Boy, who took out the Sale Cup in 2020 in extraordinary fashion, and her battle with Tim Zoo in the last heat looks the race of the evening. Tim Zoo’s last two wins at Sale have been outstanding, narrowly missing out on the 640-metre track record on December 7 to send a warning shot out to his rivals.

Speaking of track records, the Sale debut of Caco Magic will create a large amount of interest. The Stefano Cassar-trained chaser broke Dyna Double One’s long-standing 600-metre record at The Meadows on Phoenix night, and large six-figure offers have been since rejected by the Creswick trainer. He looks the greyhound to beat in heat two despite his inexperience over this distance.

Fade To Black and Pass Mark look the two greyhounds to beat in the opening heat, with both greyhounds enjoying fantastic Dream Chasers festivals. Fade To Black – trained by Kayla Cottrell – ran third in the Group 1 Bold Trease behind Without A Trace on Melbourne Cup night, while Pass Mark took out the Group Listed Cup Night Stayers event on the very same night.

Many believe Ayden’s Warrior looms large in the Sale Cup series, and he will be the greyhound hardest to beat in heat three. The son of champion sire Fernando Bale is the last greyhound to lower Without A Trace’s colours, and his tremendous stamina over prolonged periods will prove invaluable over the trip.

The winners and seconds will go through to the $75,000-to-the-winner final on January 3 at Sale, in what promises to be another huge night at the popular Gippsland venue.

THE FIELDS – SALE CUP HEATS
EVENT INFORMATION – SALE CUP NIGHT

On this night last year, Canya All Class (6) broke the Sale track record in his Cup heat