Enthralling Easter Match Race series awaits
An exciting Thursday night awaits at Angle Park with the fastest South Australian chasers set to take part in the Easter Match Race series, which sees four head to head races and the winner crowned to the dog that clocks the fastest time. Last year’s winner was Alfieri and this year it looks quite open, with a few genuine chances in the event.
Match race 1 - Came And Went (Inside) vs Jack’s Well (Outside)
A great race to kick off the event! Looks to be a case of whether Jack’s Well is quick enough to stay in touch midrace so that he can pounce on Came And Went late. Jack’s Well has been in awesome form lately, arguably going as good as ever. Came And Went is straight off the Broken Hill Cup final where he was slightly disappointing when he couldn’t find the fence. I think the box draw means that Jack’s well will just sit a length or two outside of Came And Went, therefore leaving space inside. With that Came And Went should be able to lead and hang on for mine.
Jack’s Well - “We’ve picked the quickest time to try and beat. If Came And Went runs that time again you won’t beat him! I doubt we’d lead, and Jack’s Well would have to be pretty close. I would have preferred a better draw, drawing a different dog!” said trainer Cameron Butcher
Match race 2 - Fly For Trix (Inside) vs Harbor Blues (Outside)
Intriguing battle this and both would be better suited drawn the other way round in my opinion. Fly For Trix is certainly the stronger of the two but his tendency to stay off the rail presents an issue here and I doubt he holds or leads. Harbor Blues wants the fence and will push hard to get there. Harbor Blues should be leading and if he pinches a small break early then I reckon he holds on in a thriller.
Fly For Trix - “I think they are fairly well matched. It’s fine (in regards to drawing inside), he hasn’t drawn box 1 for a little while but his record from box 1 is quite good. Probably not (in regards to leading), because he’s never been a very good box dog. Once he comes out he can run but his box manners are his handicap. He needs to be within a length of him.” said trainer Jane Mcnicholl
Harbor Blues - “Probably have to lead to win but i’m not sure if we are going to do that. If he jumps better than last week (in regards to crossing). I would have preferred inside, he loves the rail but doesn’t get it much! He has been around the 30.30s but he’s just coming back from injury, i’m not quite sure where his form is at.” said trainer Kirin Corby
Match race 3 - Fantastic Victor (Inside) vs Victa Grosso (Outside)
Probably the most anticipated race of the four and for good reason. They have been racing against each other in FFA grade, with the full fields clearly suiting Fantastic Victor who is lightning early. Victa Grosso has been honest behind him, not having much luck. Very easy to make a case for both of these but I will stick with Fantastic Victor, with his blinding speed early he will open up a break and just needs to hang on late. Great race though.
Fantastic Victor - “He’s beaten him the last couple of times, but two dogs out might make a difference.” said trainer Oswald Chegia
Victa Grosso - “He’s not going to get hung up in traffic and hopefully Fantastic Victor won’t get away from him too much. I think that’s been the trouble in the full fields and Grosso has just got a few checks on the first corner. I think it will be very close, I don’t want to be anymore than 2-3 lengths behind him off the back. I would have preferred the inside so Grosso could potentially hold his line and hold Victor out but that won’t happen now!” said co trainer Lisa Rasmussen
“Overall I think the winner will come out of Victa Grosso and Fantastic Victor, I think Grosso could run 30.10-30.15.”
Match race 4 - He’s All Purpose (Inside) vs Victa Haydn (Outside)
Clearly the most likely result out of the four races, with Victa Haydyn expected to be far too good. He’s All Purpose is a really nice dog that’s going well, but this is a stiff ask to go against Victa Haydn who is unbelievably strong on the way home over 530m. Victa Haydyn’s run home last week was off the charts and it’s hard to envision a situation where He’s All Purpose is far enough ahead to hang on. Victa Haydn for me.
He’s All Purpose - “I didn’t even know about it until someone on the radio mentioned it last Thursday! Then I got a call this morning (Monday) saying he’s eligible and do I want to put him in. He’s a boy going up against men, they are seasoned and hard race dogs. He’s matured over the last two months tenfold. Once he’s got in front he’s never been run down from behind but he’s never been up against this quality of dog. If he can get in front then he might just rattle his cage but I don’t know. He will give it a crack!” said trainer Tim Richards
Victa Haydn - “Well clearly Haydyn’s not going to lead! But he will go straight to the rail and get a sit. I think he will be too strong. He ran home in 11.30 last week so if he’s within 4-5 lengths he should be okay.” said co trainer Lisa Rasmussen.
The first race kicks off at 7:19pm local time.
