Howard Ashton heats lead a huge Thursday at Angle Park
It was a terrific night of racing at Angle Park on Thursday night with a 12-race program packed full of terrific storylines including an excellent 595m race, the return to Angle Park of 2023 Greyhound of the Year Zipping Neutron and a grade 5 final which had plenty of winning hopes.
However, it was six heats of the Group 3 Howard Ashton series which were the main act on the card and we saw plenty of chasers stake their claims to be considered among the favourites for the age-restricted series for SA Bred greyhounds.
The opening heat saw one of the early favourites for the series in Yoda Lady for trainer Lauren Harris, lay down an early marker with a 30.60 win which was the fastest time across the six heats.
Drawn slightly awkwardly in box four, a strong 5.27 first split had Yoda Lady contending for the early lead before showing a clean pair of heels down the back straight opening a three-length break which she held for the remainder of the race.
It was career win number 7 at start number 17 and made it four straight wins over the Angle Park 530m trip and the 30.60 run was just a length outside of her PB of 30.52.
The second heat saw a clash between the winners of the two Breeders Preludes which act as a lead in to the Group 3 series. On Thursday night, it was Prelude 2 winner Spontaneous for Nicole Price who prevailed in the heat with an excellent run from box two.
While Merindah City led from box one, it gave Spontaneous a beautiful run in to the race sitting nicely down the back before powering home in the straight winning by a length in 30.70 which was nearly two tenths of a second quicker than its previous best.
Zinfandel Austin was strong home for second while Merindah City held on for third and will be better for the run after being first up for six weeks in race conditions.
Heat three saw the recent good run of form for Tony Hinrichsen’s kennel continue as Jukebox Duke produced a nice run from box one to win in 30.90. A 5.28 first split set up the race for Jukebox Duke who led wire to wire and made it back-to-back wins over the Angle Park 530m journey.
Both Victa Chrissy and Keep It Zipped hit the line strongly and the pair of lightly raced chasers look to have plenty of improvement heading towards next week’s semifinals.
Heat four saw a fantastic finish between the speedster Zinfandel Evie for Cherylee Barber and the fast-finishing Southern Sun for Cameron Butcher, with the smallest of margins separating the two chasers.
Zinfandel Evie burst to the early lead with a lightning 5.15 first split powering her to the lead from the wide draw and getting a five-length break down the back straight. Southern Sun began to close late powering home, but Zinfandel Evie was just able to cling on and win in a new personal best time of 30.67.
Zinfandel Evie now boasts a career record of 17 wins and eight placings from 31 starts and shapes as one of the key hopes in the series.
The fifth heat was taken out by the ever-improving Kisses for Amy for Penny Sargent who won her fourth straight victory over the Angle Park 530m journey. From box three, Kisses for Amy was in third behind the early speed of Play In Reign and Springvale Blitz but was able to show plenty of strength in the home straight to win in 30.94.
Littermate Buster Brady for Ray Fewings ran into second while Play In Reign for Robyn Mackellar finished third.
The final heat saw a bunch finish with just a length separating the first five in the field with Dayne’s Calais coming out on top for Yvonne Maxwell in 31.06.
Dayne’s Calais was able to convert some strong recent short course form with back-to-back wins at Gawler and Angle Park before last night’s heat success. It was career win number five at start 18 and looks to be a chaser with some improvement still to come.
Maxwell was quickly able to make it a double taking out the next race on the card which was a mixed 4/5 over the 530m journey with Nangar Teddy getting a nice run from box one to win in 30.96.
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Aside from the heats of the Howard Ashton, we also had the grade 5 dogs only final which came after two heats were run last week. The race was a big occasion for Kiah Hurley who grabbed the trifecta with her trio of runners in the race.
All three greyhounds showed early speed but it was kennel newcomer Rotten Ronnie who found the front from box six with a strong 5.26 first split. With trouble in behind, the Hurley trio enjoyed a break down the back with Rotten Ronnie and Chapel Road engaging in an excellent duel but Rotten Ronnie was able to hold and win in 30.43.
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Fresh off breaking the 715m track record at The Gardens in New South Wales last week, Zipping Neutron returned to SA ahead of a tilt at the Sandown Cup by producing an Angle Park personal best to win the 730m race on the card.
Despite drawing box one, Zipping Neutron was away only fairly and had to do plenty of work around the field to get to the front but once he did, he turned on the afterburners kicking away to win by 10 lengths in 42.59.
It capped a big week for Neutron and trainer Tim Aloisi with the track record on Friday followed up by taking out the 2023 Greyhound of the Year award on Saturday night!
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While only five greyhounds contested the 595m race, it was an extremely hot field with the likes of Kai Bale, Fantastic Spike and Dash of Blue. However, it was the outsider of the small field in Rico Nismo, last year’s Group 3 Brian Johnstone winner who was able to spring a surprise with a sensational run to win in 34.20.
It was a 6th career win for Rico Nismo and with the Shane McQueen rapidly approaching over the 595m journey, it looks set to be a wide open race with several chasers holding hopes in the race!