Big guns arrive to swoop on Adelaide Cup
One of the premiere nights on the South Australian Greyhound Racing calendar will be held on Thursday night with four heats of the Group 1 2023 TAB Adelaide Cup to take centre stage.
Four heats of the event will be run across the quadrella legs of races 5.6.7 and 8 with the four winners and three fastest seconds joining last week’s SA v All-Stars winner Schillaci in the final which will be held on Friday October 6.
The depth across the four heats is very strong and features some of Australia’s biggest names including Victorians Amron Boy. Big Energy and Transponder, Tasmanian standout Wynburn Ruby and 2022 winner Buzz Junkie out to defend his crown.
In the first heat, South Australian caretaker trainer and owner Ed Burrett will be hoping that his chaser Afire can make his way through to the final, after overcoming a poor start to win a grade 5 last week.
Afire has flourished into a top-class chaser in the last few months and only recently made the Group 1 Megastar at Dapto after taking out the Sandown Speed Star in late August. Although last week's run was visually terrific, Burrett was disappointed that he missed the start again, which left Afire with plenty of work to do.
“I was pretty disappointed,” Burrett said on Afire’s win last week.
“I suppose he’s more of a front runner, so if he’s not getting the start right then he’s in trouble. He needs to get the start right if he wants to have any part on Thursday.”
Trained by Jason Sharp and his team in Victoria, caretaker trainer Burrett, who also owns Afire has done everything he can to ensure that the chaser is ready to perform at his best, which has included changing his feeds for his kennel to replicate homelife in Victoria.
After coming through the victory last week in good order, Burrett has made a small change in the hopes of getting Afire out of the boxes better.
“I actually took him to the beach yesterday, I literally walked him to the water and we just stood there for about 20 minutes,” Burrett said.
“It was just for something different. Apart from that he’s just been galloping, nothing too different, just that one small thing to hopefully change it up. It’s mainly the silent lure that’s getting him.”
It’s an imposing challenge on Thursday, with Group 1 superstar Amron Boy shaping as the red-hot favourite from its preferred inside draw, but with the fastest seconds also making their way through to the final, Afire will have his chance to get in, even if he is unable to win.
“I don’t mind his draw in the heat, but we will know how he’s going to go after 20 metres. Just last week, it looked like he had no idea when the boxes would open and he flopped out,” Burrett said.
“He’s a dog that’s run 5.05 consistently at Sandown and The Meadows so it’s one of those things. Both his Dapto runs he came out poorly too. He might just be a Sandown and Meadows dog.”
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Heat two looks to be one of the more open heats with a few winning chances in the race.
Queenslander Panama Pepper, now in the care of Ben Rawlings was terrific in his match race last week, despite going down narrowly. After setting some fast early splits, match fitness held out and he was nabbed on the line in solid time. He has drawn well with box two in the heat and should take some beating.
Victorian Launch Code for Brooke Ennis and Mepunga Smokey for Jeff Britton have good form behind them, with Launch Code somewhat up against it being his first look at the track, whilst Mepunga Smokey needs to overcome a tricky box eight if he is to make his way through.
One potential fairytale result would be Soda Saville if he was able to get through to the final, with the Paul Fagan trained chaser making his way back from a serious injury. Having won his last two starts, he brings good form into the race and has drawn box one, so should get his chance.
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Heat three is headlined by Big Energy, who has come up with an awkward box six draw but does have a vacant box to its inside. He was awesome last week in the match race series, missing out on winning the event by a length. Although he is clearly the fastest dog in the race, things are a bit awkward for him with the hard-railing Springvale Dave drawn outside of him and the faultless beginner in Fiorano drawn under him in box four
Last year's winner in Buzz Junkie has come back to defend his crown and what an effort it would be for the three-and-a-half-year-old if he was able to do so. His recent form is solid and from all reports he is trialling well back in Adelaide, so with a good box two draw, he gets his chance.
Star chaser Dolly Dutton has strong Queensland form behind it has drawn the red this heat and gets every chance to make her way through the final. Whilst she was beaten in a grade 5 last week, she did have to work very hard in the run and should be much better for it this week. She will need to come out quickly but if she’s near the front, then she can win.
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The fourth and final heat is very strong with a couple of interstate chasers set to shape the race.
Transponder for Jason Thompson will rightfully start favourite in the race, following a brilliant run in the match race series last week. In recent weeks, we have seen many interstate chasers struggle at their first look at the track, but it didn’t worry him as he flew around in a fast 30.26. If he takes any improvement out of that run then he should be hard to beat.
Wynburn Ruby is a super quick animal and showed that last week in an exhibition trial at Angle Park. Trained by Ben Englund in Tasmania and under the care of Lauren Harris whilst in South Australia, she was terrific last week in her trial, running a sizzling 30.23, which would have her a massive chance in this. The problem for her is box eight, which is notoriously difficult to win from but Wynburn Ruby does have six wins from 11 starts in boxes six or wider.
Crackerjack Bull is another big chance in the race, with the star Victorian heading over after two awesome Victorian runs, following a short spell. His last two runs have resulted in a 22.27 run at Geelong over the 400, before running 25.68 at Warragul over the 460m, which are both quick times. He has the big disadvantage of having never seen the track, but if he can overcome it, then he’s in the race.
Best Bet: Transponder (Race 8, Number 7)
Value Bet: Panama Pepper (Race 6, Number 2)