Panorama Grips On In Murray Bridge Cup Final

On what was a brilliant night at Murray Bridge, it was the Ben Rawlings trained Panorama who proved too fast and too good in the Group 3 Daish Irrigation and Fodder Murray Bridge Cup.

A large crowd was in attendance for the night with the weather holding together and the atmosphere being quite lively.

When it came to the big race it was a competitive betting market, which saw the Tim Aloisi trained Ravers Army start favourite from box one with Fantastic Dixie and Tom Keeping both given good chances. With the crowd buzzing and the dogs ready to go, the boxes opened and it was clearly Panorama who left the best, with the black bitch firing to the front early. Behind her was an even wall of chasers who all had some chasing to do.

Panorama led comfortably to the turn, with Tom Keeping and Fantastic Keary finding their sports just behind her. Around the turn, Tom Keeping started to make quick ground, but had to check off the heels of Panorama which cost him a length or two. It was clearly a two dog race in the straight, with Panorama gripping on to the lead with Tom Keeping desperately trying to reel her in. The line came and it was Panorama who just held on, winning by half a length in 25.49, with Tom Keeping a close second and Fantastic Dixie rushing home late for third.

It was a big night for Ben Rawlings not only won the Cup, but took out the John O’Neill Consolation race with Okeechobee Road winning in barnstorming fashion, much to the delight of punters trackside, before Bandit Trixie won a grade 6 over the short trip to give Rawlings a treble for the night.

One of the spectacles of the night were the two straight track races which were terrific events, made even better by the swarming crowd along the fence line to cheer the chasers home. The Ashee Griffiths trained Cash On Delivery proved he is one of our most in form straight track dogs at the moment by taking out the 300m race in 16.67, before the Bosco Stamenkovic trained So Be It showed that is well and truly good enough to match it with the ‘big boys’, taking out the 350m race in 19.28.

Elizabeth Chegia had two good winners, the first being Fantastic Luna who showed that she is nearing her very best by taking out the special event race over the 530m trip. From box eight she had to do it tough out wide, despite this she was just too good and got up with a big effort, winning in 30.40, but showing plenty. The superstar that is Fantastic Radley showed that he is back to his best, with a return to the staying trip on Sunday. It was one of the more competitive 680m races we have seen at Murray Bridge and the race proved to be a ripper. After landing relatively forward early, Fantastic Radley travelled in third position most of the race, before starting to wind up around the turn. It took him a while but Fantastic Radley just proved to be the superior stayer, outgunning the emerging Kruger Lass to win in a red hot 39.18. Certainly good to have Radley back in town!

An excellent night on track for everyone involved!