SA Oaks and Derby finals
2017 COFFEX COFFEE SA OAKS– REVIEW
The Group 3 Coffex Coffee SA Oaks at Angle Park was another exciting race for the girls, this year dominated by the greyhounds from the Garden state. Jeff Britton from Victoria had 3 runners engaged while his partner Angela Langton had Hoo Gur Affair engaged with Osakalaka for Jessica Sharp nicely positioned out of box 1.
As the boxes flew open Hoo Gur Affair pounced on the early lead from box 4 and opened up a handy break. Osakalaka and Libby Raider for local Paula Hearnden showed early speed while the classy Paradiso Lass began slowly and was back in the pack.
As the Oaks field charged down the back straight Hoo Gur Affair was low flying and in full control while Osakalaka ran to second and Paradiso Lass began to get motoring from midfield. As they turned for home Hoo Gur Affair was in no danger and went on to record a strong victory. She ran sizzling time with splits of 4.49, 16.97 and an overall of 29.86. She won by 3 ½ lengths from Paradiso Lass who flew home to grab second just ahead of Osakalaka ½ a length back in third.
The $25,000 first prize took Hoo Gur Affair’s prizemoney to just under $38,000 and the impressive record of 5 wins and 3 placings from her 9 lifetime starts.
2017 BGC INDUSTRIAL CLEANING SUPPLIES SA DERBY – REVIEW
The BGC SA Derby final again showcased some of the best young male chasers in the land with a hot field lining up for the Group 3 feature at Angle Park.
All the rage was the Jeff Britton trained Mepunga Blazer who was sent out a very short priced favourite on the back of his brilliant 29.25 heat win last week. The star chaser began fairly from box 7 to be mid field at the winning post on the first occasion while kennel mates Black Bombshell and Bundles Galore for Enzo Crudeli used their inside boxes to grab forward positions. With tight racing to the first turn there was interference with Queensland visitor Maurice Minor for Tom Tzouvelis finding severe trouble and was retired from the event but fortunately sustained only a minor injury.
After the trouble on the first turn Black Bombshell sped away down the back straight with Bundles Galore in hot pursuit. The Jeff Britton threesome of Mepunga Tycoon, Alpha Aion and Mepunga Blazer were all battling for third and chasing hard. In the run to the line the WA kennel mate’s fought out a strong drive to the winning post with Black Bombshell holding on for a well-deserved victory. He won by ¾ lengths in a very slick 29.79 with splits of 4.41, 16.74 in defeating Bundles Galore. Race favourite Mepunga Blazer did a good job to run third with nothing going his way last night and still looks a top contender for the upcoming Adelaide Cup series in two weeks’ time.
It would be great to see the Crudeli kennel mates back in SA also for the Cup and what a series it is shaping up to be.
Black Bombshell now boasts the impressive record of 16 starts for 9 wins and 3 placings and prizemoney past $60,000.
