Star-studded night at Angle Park
The best greyhounds in the State gathered last night at Angle Park with the sprinters chasing the $10,000 first prize for the SA Anniversary Cup final and the stayers doing the same for the SA Distance Championship final.
In one of the most competitive SA Distance Championship finals in recent years the Ashlee Griffiths trained Zipping Patch was strongly supported into favouritism and produced a powerful performance to come from midfield with a dazzling finish to claim victory.
In the charge to the first turn Bedrock Will for Clint Trengove showed great pace to lead clearly from box 8 with Springvale Rex for Gavin Harris sliding across from box 6 into second and Wind Burn Flash for Jason Newman also coming across from her wide draw into third. Zipping Patch began well and pushed up into fourth along side Dashing Jinx for Clint Trengove while the remainder of the field jostled for positions.
Leaving the front straight and Bedrock Will was going nicely in the lead but was being stalked by Springvale Rex and Wind Burn Flash with a gap back to Zipping Patch however he was starting to make good ground followed by Machismo for Vadim Roz. Off the back straight and Springvale Rex offered a strong challenge to Bedrock Will along the inside and shortly after raced to the lead however Zipping Patch had moved passed Wind Burn Flash into third and was hard on the paws of Springvale Rex as they turned for home. In the charge to the finish line Zipping Patch accelerated along the inside to claim the lead and raced down to the line a strong winner by .75 lengths in a slick time of 42.92 for the 730m journey ahead of Springvale Rex with 2.25 lengths back to Bedrock Will.
The son of Sh Avatar and Zipping Abby is locally owned by Cameron Foreshaw and has been racing in fantastic fashion for the Ashlee Griffiths kennel. He has now won 10 races from 33 starts with 9 placing’s and prizemoney around $43,000.
For the 51st running of the SA Anniversary Cup final a wonderful field was assembled for the prestigious event with Tony Rasmussen claiming back-to-back victories when Victa Alby was able to lead throughout replicating his kennel mate Mallee Magic who did the same thing 12 months prior.
As the start was affected it was an even dispatch with Victa Alby from box 2 beginning ok but receiving some crowding as he pushed towards the lead, both kennel mate Victa Marli for Tony from box 6 and Springvale Maddi for Gavin Harris from box 8 came across from wide draws and challenged hard for the front with Oh Louise for Tim Richards moving nicely into fourth. As they left the front straight Victa Alby withstood the challenge and punched through to lead clearly into the back straight. Victa Marli held second with Oh Louise moving up alongside Springvale Maddi for third as the remainder of the field looked to find their positions.
Into the back straight and Victa Alby opened up a nice break from Victa Marli who was chasing hard, Oh Louise had moved to a clear third while Springvale Maddi was being challenged for fourth by Basil Brush Rose for Renata Maruszczyk and Panorama for Ben Rawlings. Off the back straight and into the front straight Victa Alby was burning along in the lead with his lead increasing with every stride. He careered away from his rivals to go on and win by almost 5 lengths in a sizzling 30.23 for the 530m journey. Victa Marli stuck on well for second giving the Rasmussen team the quinella while Oh Louise fought of the challenge from Basil Brush Rose to claim a nice third a further 1.50 lengths away.
Locally owned and bred the son of Fernando Bale and Victa Polly is owned by The Four Girls Syndicate managed by Sue Schadow and has the impressive record of 9 wins from 20 starts with 5 placing’s and prizemoney around $46,000.
