Malo Magic Marvels In Sprint Classic Final

Tuesday (Straight track)

John Rees had a fantastic day up the Murray Bridge Straight with two strong victories from his chasers. Tennessee Jacks had box five to deal with for his Juvenile event, but made light work of that when he jumped straight to the front early. He was outpaced midrace, but fought back late and ran away for a good 17.05 effort. Zagreb then had his second start after a lengthy absence and came up with box one for the grade 5 race. It was an even field but after a clean beginning he was able to hold a spot on the rail. Approaching the finish line, his strength did all the talking as he ran away from the others in 17.06. A nice day for John!

Three heats of the grade 6 series over 350m were run and the quickest winner of the heats was the returning Keen Rocket, who came up with box one for his first start in six weeks. He started favourite for the race, but his backers would have been a bit nervous when he came out slowly and needing to do some work. Thankfully, he followed the rail and mustered beautifully, which allowed him to take takeover midrace. It was a strong effort as he powered away to win in a best of the day 19.20. He’s a promising dog and will be the one to beat in the final on Tuesday.

The Wendy Sebastyan trained Dash Home returned to the winners list for the first time since August with a fantastic best of the day win in the fast class race over the 300m trip. It was a tight go early with no clear leader, but Dash Home was able to cross the dog on his inside and find the fence. He was never in any peace in front and as they approached the line it was anyone's race, but the black dog did just enough to win in 16.63.

Dog to follow: Follow Me Raja - Had his third start in South Australia and first on the straight track on Tuesday, with the effort his best one yet. He had shown little at Angle Park but seemed to relish the straight track with the long striding dog going nicely. He ran a close second and went good time, which would have most likely been the first time he had seen the track. He’s a chance in the grade 6 final on Tuesday.



Sunday (1-Turn)

The headline act on a fabulous Sunday evening at Murray Bridge was the Sprint Classic final, which brought a stellar field together after six strong heats last week. Being over the 395m distance, early speed was going to be telling and there was no shortage of it when the boxes opened! Amongst the hot rush it was the Victorian that is Malo Magic, who burnt them off and found the front, setting a two length lead as they went into the turn. He was travelling sweetly and seemingly had the race in his keeping, but it was the local Taylor Toves who posed a huge threat, storming home late. It went down to the last bound but the $7000 first prize went to Malo Magic, who got it done in 22.30, winning by a nose ahead of Taylor Toves. It’s certainly been a worthwhile adventure for the Sharp training team, with three winners last week and now taking out the final, which was the main aim.

Tony Rasmussen had a big night with four winners for the night. It started with the airborne Bernardo Bowl claiming another win, with the promising chaser running 22.40 over the short trip to win impressively, before Val Ali won the next race over the 455m journey with a pacey 25.91 gallop from a wide draw. It was a little wait for Victa Tony to strut his stuff, but the fawn dog who was amazingly well in for a grade 6, showed his love for the track with a powerful 22.56 win over 395m distance. The last of the four was Victa Speed, who was simply sensational en route to his dominant 25.70 win over the 455m trip. A good night out for Tony and the team who are having an excellent run.

Whilst it’s not uncommon to win first up off a spell, the training performance and remarkable story of Fantastic Dixie is something to behold. The brindle bitch made a miraculous return to the race track on Sunday and not only did she return, but she ran a flying best of the night 25.44 over the 455m trip, to win her grade 5 event. The journey back to the track has been a tale of persistence and determination from both ‘Dixie’ and everyone involved in the Ozzie Chegia training team. A great effort from the team and hopefully Dixie can go on with things from here, if she repeats this sort of form then she won’t be out of place when the Murray Bridge Cup rolls around next month!

Dog to follow: Fantastic Keary - He was first up on Sunday over the short trip and ran a beauty, going down narrowly after a poor beginning. It’s hard work when you come out slowly and he had to cover plenty of ground going around chasers, but he chased valiantly and despite going down, it was a terrific run. Clearly he’s come back near his best and he won’t be waiting long to get back on the winners list.