Fiorano gives Oakey Kings & Queens success
A fantastic 12-race card on Thursday night was headlined by the final of the 2023 Kings and Queens over the 530m trip. The feature event was taken out by Fiorano, who prevailed by the tightest of margins holding off the fast finishing Could Be King by a nose in 30.55.
Trained by Brenda Oakey, Fiorano has now won six of its eight starts since arriving in South Australia with its biggest win coming in Thursday night’s feature event.
Jumping from box three, Fiorano jumped to an early lead on the back of 5.28 first split with clear running out in front with some trouble in behind. The trouble gave clear running to the powerful Could Be King who quickly moved into second and closed on Fiorano.
While Could Be King made a late dive on the line, it was Fiorano who claimed the feature in a tight finish with another promising chaser in Finniss Jewel running into third.
Speaking after the race, trainer Brenda Oakey said she was thrilled that Fiorano was able to bank its good form into feature race success.
“I was pretty nervous, I must admit,” Oakey said about her feelings as the chasers entered the home straight.
“He (Fiorano) has settled in really well. He’s had eight starts now for six wins and he works so hard and he’s always happy.”
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While the Kings and Queens was the feature act on the Angle Park card, there were several other highlights on the 12-race program, which saw 12 different trainers collect a winner.
In the opener, Dash Of Blue continued its excellent run of form winning over the 595m journey in a red-hot field featuring several in-form chasers including National Sprint representative Ravers Army, Zoe Rose and last start winner Springvale Roxy.
Springvale Roxy led early with a strong 8.45 split to start but Dash Of Blue was nicely positioned in second as they headed around the back before Dash Of Blue powered to the lead on the home turn winning by three lengths in 34.39.
It was the ninth win in 11 starts for Dash of Blue over a three month stretch which began with the Shane McQueen final over the 595m trip and includes two greyhound of the month nominations and winning a heat of the SA National Sprint series.
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Weblec Flame for Becc Weinert caused an upset in race five on the card, beating a trio of highly fancied runners to snatch victory at $21.
With most of the attention on Tasmanian runner Wynburn Honey in the red rug, a slow beginning allowed Weblec Flame to slide into third place on the rail at the first turn.
Chasing the leaders in Bandit Trixi and Lana Roads, Weblec Flame was able to rail through as the others went wide and win in an impressive performance in 31.05.
While getting away last, Wynburn Honey produced an excellent run home to snatch second place and will look for further improvement as it heads towards the heats of the Oaks and Derby next week.
It will be joined by fellow Tasmanian hope Wynburn Dozer who also overcame a slow start to run third in the fourth race on the evening in its first look at Angle Park.
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Springvale Dave continued its excellent run of Angle Park form for trainer Michael Giniotis making it four straight wins on the track in the open race of the night in race seven.
Jumping fairly from box one, it was able to hold its position on the rail and avoid some trouble to settle second behind Springvale Maddi before powering away down the back straight and winning ny two lengths in 30.72!