Fantastic Victor breaks unbreakable track record
The past week at the Bridge…
Tuesday (Straight Track)
10 races up the straight last week and some nice types engaged.
Dottie Cotton finally broke through for her maiden victory in the first race of the day. After running four consecutive seconds, punters thought it would be her day and so she started a hot favourite. She left the boxes well and was never troubled over the 350m trip. Well done to Dottie and her trainer, Wendy Sebastyan!
Up There Billy won the third of the day with a really nice display of speed. Box 8 up the straight is never easy, but he handled it very comfortably and got across. His mid-race work was super, putting a gap on the field. That’s two in a row for Billy, he seems to be enjoying the straight track!
Lauren Harris had an absolute fill up for the meeting, taking 6 dogs and walking home with four winners. Finniss Flash started the show with his powerful performance to lob at the short odds, before Allinga Road, Bidgee Boy and Danyo’s Clint all burnt some rubber with their very slick victories. Allinga Road was the most impressive with his BOD 16.64 effort. Well done to Lauren and the team!
Wally Harkins rounded out the day with a very deserved winner when Oscar Awards stormed home in the last. It has been a tale of patience for Wally with Oscar Awards, having arrived in South Australia 9 months ago and only having his first win on Tuesday. Oscar Awards has had a couple of battles but to see him in full flight late in the concluding stages of the race on Tuesday was very soothing. Great job to both Wally and Oscar.
Dog to follow: Extinguish - Had his first start for Kim Johnston on Tuesday and won - but only just, however I thought the effort was better than it looked. This dog can run and is particularly strong so the 300m was probably shy of the trip that he wants. He only came out with a 4.60 first split which is fair and having to battle out wide from box 8 is hard, so to keep charging and pick up the leader to win was really good. Not sure where he goes next, but once he gets to the 455m on the one turn or the 350m up the straight, he will be hard to roll.
Sunday (1-Turn)
Great to be back at the Sunday night slot for the next two weeks at the Bridge, and we had 12 cracking races to watch.
Wooden Tiger was back in the winners list after dominating the small four dog field over the 680m trip. He led all the way and was never challenged at any point. Wooden Tiger has been in the care of Clint Trengove for a few runs now and he seems to be racing quite well for Clint.
Steven Brook has been having a good run of things lately with a few of the dogs he has got over from interstate, and on Sunday he unveiled another newbie to the kennel in the form of Flash Banner. It was only a week ago that Flash Banner ran third at Goulburn, but the Brindle Bitch seems to have enjoyed her week's stay with Brooky, as she was quite impressive in her first up victory. She was too slick for the quality field, leading all the way with a 8.01-25.59 gallop.
One of the races of the night was the Adele’s Entity vs Spring Vinnie battle over the 530m journey. Punters couldn’t split them and they started equal favorites. They matched motors early and really fought to the first split, but Adele’s Entity was just a bit too slick and she was able to hit the front. From there she was never troubled by Vinnie, and she won with a really slick 29.67.
It was saved for the last of the night, but Fantastic Victor produced one of the most breathtaking victories that many would have ever seen - so much so that I was actually speechless after watching it! Victor started favourite in a really strong field, but showed why early when he led in a rocketing 4.95 first split, before giving a couple of quick dogs windburn. His work around the turn and in the home straight was just unbelievable, you will struggle to find a dog that's done what he did - he looked like he was in fast forward hitting the finish line! The winning margin was just a measly 8.5 lengths and the time… well a track record - 21.75. Victor had just had a two week let up and it’s fair to say that Ozzie Chegia knows when they need a freshen up, because they always come back better. An amazing run and goodluck to anyone that races Fantastic Victor in the coming weeks.
Photo: Danielle and Steve from team Victor after Sunday's record-breaking win
Credit: Kurt Donsberg Photography
Dog to follow: Major Tom Fury - An honest chaser that I thought went quite well on Sunday. Was only fair away but made some good ground after that and put in a nice showing. With a bit of luck and the right field, he will win one shortly.