All eyes on Victa Damian in Howard Ashton Final
Tony and Lisa Rasmussen look to have the stranglehold on this Thursday night’s Group 3 Howard Ashton at Angle Park with the team boasting seven of the eight finalists.
The hottest local prospect in the form of Victa Damian will start a raging hot favourite from box one, off the back of a faultless campaign through the first two weeks of the series.
In his heat, he equalled the track record at Angle Park, with a stunning display of speed and strength, with wet conditions arguably stopping him from breaking it last week.
The semi-final run quite understandably pleased his trainer Lisa Rasmussen and she couldn’t be happier with his progression through the series.
“I couldn't be happier,” Rasmussen said on last week’s run.
“I didn’t think he would break any track records given how the weather was, generally it needs to be warm and firm, but it was rainy and cold.
“Very happy with the run, to be honest we are just happy when he gets through a run without any injuries at the end.”
However, Rasmussen also understands that box one may potentially be a small issue for Victa Damian on Thursday night in what is a quality field of his own litter mates.
“We are slightly worried because when they were pups and we first trialled them, Victa Alby is the one that hurt Victa Damian, last time they were together in a paired trial,; Rasmussen said on the box one draw.
“We’re just a bit worried that Damian does like to be a little off the track. Whereas the other boys, who none of whom are small, do like to rail.
“I would have preferred him to be the widest of the ‘Victas’, but what will be will be. Hopefully he can push up and get himself out of trouble, hopefully the girls hold up the other boys!
While all eyes will be on Victa Damian on Thursday night, behind the scenes the Rasmussen team was focussed on keeping things as normal as possible.
“The week has been really good, nothing changes with him, he’s just such an easy dog to look after,” she said.
“We are very proud of our own dog that we bred being in (the race) and we’re very honoured to be training the ‘Victa’ litter that the Schadow family have bred, they are just amazing all of them.”
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On an excellent night of chasing at Angle Park, four heats of the Shane McQueen over the 595m distance will take place.
The series is a real feature on the South Australian greyhound racing calendar, with the state’s best middle-distance chasers all coming together in the hope of taking home the prize next week.
One of the series’ heavy hitters will be the Ben Rawlings-trained Could Be King, who has produced some breath-taking performances across his 12 career starts.
Two starts ago, Could Be King came home strongly to produce a big 34.37 victory, with a sensational run home time of 12.63, before having no luck last week, yet still going down by less than a length.
He has drawn box seven for his heat, which Rawlings is not too displeased with.
“I was disappointed on face value (with last start), but after the race he pulled up really clean and it wasn’t a bad effort.” Rawlings said.
“He had his momentum stopped a couple times but he looked closer to a stayer, he was still finding the line.
“His last two runs have made me think he will get the 700, it just depends how well he gets and how much time it will take him to get it.”
Could Be King is drawn in a tricky heat taking on the Tim Richards trained He’s All Purpose and veteran chaser Tomato Tears.
“He’s All Purpose probably goes to the front, I wouldn’t want him scooting away too hard, but a small field obviously helps,” Rawlings said.
“I think he will begin better given it’s a week backup and as long as he gets through the turn unscathed,
“I think he’s much better when he gets outside of them and can just keep coming. I think with last week, he went underneath a dog going into the top turn and got baulked a bit. As long as he hooks out, I’m hoping he puts it all together and can break 34 seconds.
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It’s no secret that Tim Aloisi knows how to find a handy chaser and on Thursday he will unveil a new stayer to his kennel in the form of Zipping Neutron, who has already shown loads of ability in his short career.
It was only last week that Zipping Neutron contested a heat of the Sandown Cup, where he ran a close fourth.
Having already run a 41.93 at Wentworth Park and 41.62 at The Gardens, it’s clear that he can run a fast 700m and that sort of form will see him hard to beat anywhere he races.
It’s a handy field that he will line up against this Thursday, but it will feel like a big drop in class as he comes back from a Group 1 heat.
Drawing box eight, he should be able to stay out of trouble, but it will be his first run on the track, which Aloisi concedes is not ideal.
“We had been looking at a stayer to buy and purchased him off Marty Hallinan.” Aloisi said.
“He only arrived Friday and has settled in well.”
“Thursday will be his first look at the track. I gave him a walk on the track Tuesday and he loved it.”
“I’d expect for his first look that he will be feeling his way around Angle Park and we won’t see the best of him for 3-4 weeks.”
Best Bet: Fantastic Dixie (Race 10, Number 4)
Value Bet: Zipping Ruckman (Race 2, Number 7)