Forshaw Duo Chasing Nationals Glory
Forshaw Duo Chasing Nationals Glory
One of the more exciting series on the Australian Greyhound racing calendar gets underway on Thursday night with the South Australian heats of the National Sprint Championship, a prestigious event held each year with the winner representing South Australia in the National final.
There will be extra significance for the State qualifiers this year, with the National finals to be run at Angle Park later in August for the first time since 2016.
Three heats will be run on Thursday and they all contain good depth with our best chasers lining up as they chase the opportunity to represent South Australia on the national stage.
With three heats, it will require a top two finish in the heats or a quick third in order to qualify for the final which will be run next week, with each other state to hold their sprint and distance finals within a 2-hour time period, which will make for some excellent viewing.
One of the state’s more promising young trainers Cameron Forshaw, who trains with his partner Ashlee Griffiths, will be hoping to get two finalists through to next week as he brings Adhana Rico and Fiorano into the heats.
Adhana Rico has been one of the state’s premier chasers for the last year, following his Adelaide Cup efforts where he finished a very gallant fourth before going on two win the Group 3 Gawler Gold Cup weeks after.
In more recent times, he has had five runs since returning from a short spell and has been super consistent, running in the placings in all but one of those runs, which was last week where he ran fourth in the FFA at Angle Park.
“He has taken a bit to get back to where he was,” Forshaw said.
“I think he probably still needs a couple more runs to get his fitness completely back.”
Adhana Rico will line up from box four in the first heat of the series, as he lines up against some quality performers in the form of Long Haul and Ravers Army. From box four, he will need to show some track sense to get into a winning spot.
“I think he’s got a decent chance of running in the places in his heat,” Forshaw said.
“He has a railer inside and a wide runner outside along with a vacant box so as long as he jumps decent, he should get plenty of room to muster.”
Fiorano has also proven to be a stellar performer since arriving in South Australia last year and he will have his third start on Thursday since having a lengthy six-month spell. In his returning two starts, he has run two close seconds at Murray Bridge, running good times in both of those starts.
“His major time off was for a bone chip in his wrist which we have fixed now and he has had a couple of runs back at Murray Bridge,” Forshaw said.
“He definitely need the runs and pulled up well. I thought he just needed a bit of time to be ready for a 500m race and he definitely seems better as a two-turn dog than a one turn dog.
Fiorano will step out in the third heat of the series, with his two biggest dangers being the airborne Fantastic Spike and Where’s Poppy. From box three, he will be looking to step quickly and work to a forward position early.
“On his trials, he can go close to leading but as with Adhan Rico, I think he might get a bit tired in the run home so hopefully he can place and make it through to next week.”
“I think Adhana is the better chance of both, he has got more runs on the board and that is huge when you are up against quality lineups.”
A terrific card is set to get underway at 6:37pm local time.
Best Bets:
Bedrock Will (Race 3, Number 1)
Xile Bale (Race 8, Number 1)