2022 EASTAR Match Race Series Review

The fourth running of the Eastar Match Race series last night saw another exciting series with 8 of the state’s fastest greyhounds going head-to-head in 4 x 2 dog races.

In front of a fully booked Angle Park Easter Thursday crowd it was the Ossie Chegia trained Fantastic Victor who come out on top with a sizzling overall time of 30.09 for the 530m to claim the $6,000 first prize.

In the first Match Race Came And Went for Troy Murray and Jack’s Well for Cameron Butcher set the crowd alight with a stirring battle with only a finger nail separating the two speedsters in a great start to the series. Came And Went led as expected and Jack’s Well was just of his heels as expected however as they entered the front straight they were both level pegging and raced head and head down to the finish line with the judge giving Jack’s Well the win on the outside with both recording 30.22 for the 530m.

The second match race saw Harbor Blues for Kirin Corby and Fly For Trix for Jane McNicholl do battle. Harbor Blues was nicely supported into favouritism for this match and after showing terrific speed from the boxes he was able to cross and lead on the first turn. Fly For Trix was giving strong chase however Harbor Blues was low flying in the lead and opened up a decent break as they left the back straight. Whilst Fly For Trix tried hard to bridge the gap, Harbor Blues was in no danger and recorded a sizzling win reminiscent of his brilliant win in the Doug Payne Feature back in January. He recorded 30.16 to be the club house leader as we reached half way.

The third match was touted as the best of the night with Fantastic Victor for Ossie Chegia and Victa Grosso for Tony Rasmussen lining up head to head after they had been dualling out the Open company events at Angle Park over the last few months. Fantastic Victor jumped brilliantly as normal to lead however Victa Grosso was right there on his outside as they sped to the back straight. Both were in full flight as Victa Gross edged a little bit closer turning for home and it looked line anyone’s race however Fantastic Victor pulled out plenty in the home straight to claim the third match race with both sprinters running scintillating time. Fantastic Victor jumped in the overall lead with a slick 30.09 win while Victa Grosso ran 30.17 seeing him slot into third place.

There were now only two chances left to beat Fantastic Victor’s time when Victa Haydn for Tony Rasmussen and He’s All Purpose for Tim Richards matched up in the last two dog battle. 

The match was one of brilliant early speed against raw power over the concluding stages which saw it one of the most interesting matches of the night. As expected, He’s All Purpose jumped to the early lead and looked to speed away with Victa Haydn moving to the rails and starting to go through his gears. Into the back straight He’s All Purpose was running along out in front but Victa Haydn was a lot closer than expected and with his massive run home time Fantastic Victor’s time of 30.09 looked to be in danger. Off the back straight and Victa Haydn moved up ominously to move past He’s All Purpose who fought back hard and tried to keep him out however Victa Haydn drew to the lead entering the front straight and ran away with the win. All eyes turned to the clock to see if he could break his own run home time record to claim the title however a solid 30.31 was the time posted, meaning Fantastic Victor would claim the Eastar Match race title for 2022.

The win for trainer Oswald Chegia came as no real surprise, given Fantastic Victor had run quick times in the past.

“You’re never confident but the dog was feeling really well and he’s run that sort of time before so it was good he did it again.” said Ossie, who not too long ago put Fantastic Victor over the 600m trip, to try and strengthen him up and by the manner of the win last night, it certainly seems to have done that.

“I got a bit worried around the turn but he normally kicks away in the straight and he did again like I thought he would. You probably have to run that sort of time to beat the dog.”

After last night’s success, all eyes will turn to the enormous Anniversary Cup heats next week with a $50,000 first prize on offer in the final. Whilst we are sure to see some strong interstate representation, Fantastic Victor will be there to greet the challengers. 

“Next week he’s going into the Anniversary Cup heats so that’s our next plan. Then he might have a few days off after that and go for something else.”

Fantastic Victor is by Fernando Bale and Fantastic Dolly and owned by Barry Stewart, Tyla Dicicco, Ossie and Danielle and now has won 27 races from 60 starts with 16 placings and career prizemoney of around $89,000.