Media Release

AGRA’s Run of the Month for March 2010 has been awarded to exciting Victorian stayer Drill ‘Em. In another outstanding performance Drill ‘Em added the Group 1 Galaxy to his ever increasing trophy cabinet, however it was the way in which the David Knocker-trained star went about his win that scored him AGRA Run of the Month for March.

Drill ‘Em came into the final in a rich vein of form and the Galaxy win was his second Group 1 success after winning the Super Stayers in Melbourne. It was another front running display and in dominating fashion after fast sections of 15.44, 23.57 and 29.34, he lowered the track record recording 41.33.

It had stood for only a week after Jarvis Bale set Cannington alight in the heats. But like their last encounter in the Group 1 Super Stayers at the Meadows, Jarvis Bale had to once again settle for second place chasing his superior opponent all the way to be beaten by a hollow five lengths.

Queenslander Dashing Corsair finished third a fair back with all honours to the winner.

Drill ‘Em missed out on his sixth Group victory since November 2009 when he ran an unlucky behind Jarvis Bale in the Group 2 Easter Chase final, after finishing second behind Queenslander Dashing Corsair in the heats, last Saturday night.

Drill ‘Em is a Brindle dog whelped March ’07. He is by Texas Gold from Geoff’s Mate (Ashigga x Executive Maggie). His current record stands at 40 starts for 16 wins and 12 placings and prizemony earnings over $272, 420. He is raced by the Binborrin Syndicate and trained by David Knocker at Langwarrin in Victoria.

As usual we had some outstanding runs recorded in March with fast times on both city and country circuits all over Australia. However, Drill ‘Em’s track record performance at Cannington in such a high profile race in top class company earned him this month’s AGRA Run of the Month.

AGRA congratulates owners the Binborrin Syndicate, trainer David Knocker and Drill ‘Em on being judged the AGRA Run of the Month for March 2010.

For further information please contact:

AGRA Publicity Officer

Neil Brown

Ph: (03) 9769 1234

Or

AGRA Executive Officer

Brenton Scott

Ph: (02) 9649 7166

Easter Chase Heat Results & Final Box Draw

The nation’s best stayers have their sights set on the Group 2 Globe Memorial Easter Chase (720m) after the heat’s were staged at Sydney’s Wentworth Park on Saturday night. The on-course box draw has delivered an exciting final with any number of chances in the $25, 000-to-the-winner event.

Queenslander Dashing Corsair, a former national sprint champion, is the fastest qualifier after winning their heat with a scintillating 42.10 dash on Saturday night.

Robert Smith’s Newcastle-based Lochinvar Vouge was the other heat winner in a slick 42.20s.

Dashing Corsair’s trainer Dwyer Lennon was happy his charge turned the tables on Australia’s no.1 stayer Drill ‘Em with an exciting all-the-way victory.

“I’m pretty happy with the run,” he said. “I’d be happy with him if he runs the same time (next week). I think they’re all pretty evenly matched and I think it’s whoever gets the luck on the night. The last couple of times Drill ‘Em has been in front and this time he (Dashing Corsair) was in front.”

Globe Memorial’s Peter Darroch said he was delighted to support one of Australia’s best staying events before assisting in the final box draw.

“We have had a long association with greyhound racing and are pleased to be again supporting the Globe Memorial Easter Chase in 2010,” Darroch said. “The Globe Memorial Easter Chase attracts the country’s best stayers and is an important ingredient of the Golden Easter Egg carnival.”

2010 Macro Meats Golden Easter Egg Final Field & Box Draw:

For further information please contact:
GRNSW Communications Coordinator
Adam Pengilly
Ph: (02) 8767 0517
Mob: 0401 641 943

Last round proved to be the realm of the underdogs, with only two of the ten favourites saluting in their events – Cindeen Shelby and Dana Beatrice.

Will more upset wins be on the cards for this week or will the favourites fight back? Read on for a preview of the four semis and the sensational dogs fighting for a place in the final.

Easter Egg Semi-Final 1:

The first Easter Egg semi-final features some speedy sprinters including the star of the qualifiers, the Tracey and Frank Hurst-trained Fancy Mandy. The impressive black and white bitch annihilated her rivals in heat four last week when she ran a near track record time of 29.49 winning by nearly six lengths ahead of the hot favourite High Earner.

In the semis Fancy Mandy has again drawn box four, which she won from last week. She looks well positioned to head straight to the final as she faces one of the weaker heats.

Her main threats will be the consistent Boston Blackie, runner-up to Cosmic Rumble in heat six, drawn ideally on the rails and the Michael Carter-trained Proven Jett directly on her outside in box two.

Boston Blackie is a great beginner, but even if he does take the lead early on the rails, Fancy Mandy and her incredible speed and ability is likely to chase him down.

Also starting in the first semi is winner of heat nine, Boss Number One who will struggle from box five after having won from his favourable box one draw last week.

Easter Egg Semi-Final 2:

The second semi is a grand final-worthy field featuring the most impressive line-up of dogs. A big danger here is the impressive Heather Collins-trained bitch Arsonist who has been blessed with the rails alley.

Boom Victorian chaser Arsonist ran a strong second to the talented Dana Beatrice in the eighth heat last week from box seven, and their ideal draw on Saturday night puts them in an excellent position.

In any other semi, Launching Pad winner Arsonist would be a shoe-in, but the level of competition she faces is tough including Perth Cup winner High Earner (box two), Cosmic Rumble (box three), Rookie Rebel victor Flash Of Light (box four) and the seemingly unstoppable 2009 Australian Greyhound of the Year Cindeen Shelby (box six) all fighting for a spot in the final.

This race could belong to any dog and they all deserve to be at Wentworth Park in the final on Easter Saturday.

Easter Egg Semi-Final 3:

In the third Easter Egg semi on Saturday night three super consistent heat winners will face off in a great showdown, with Regent Diamond, Ruff It and Devine Ruler starting from boxes one, three and four respectively.

The fastest and most impressive of the three is the Tony Brett-trained Ruff It who claimed an emphatic victory in heat five last week by over five lengths.

Ruff It defeated an impressive field that included Dyna Lachlan, installed as the equal favourite for the April 3 final prior to the heats with High Earner, who ran a well-beaten fourth. The Adelaide Cup – Australian Cup winner will only get a run now if two of the dogs in the third semi final are scratched, which is looking unlikely.

Now trained in Queensland by Christine Robartson, Regent Diamond claimed the biggest upset win last week when they went out as the longest priced runner in the opening heat at $42.70 before going on to claim an all-the-way win ahead of the likes of Galba Jack who placed third and the brilliant Fedex who missed out on a semi-final spot after finishing fifth.

It was Regent Diamond’s first look at the Wentworth Park track and punters can be sure her odds will never be as generous as they were in the heats, especially if she finds some early pace, gets away quickly and leads all the way for a win here on Saturday night.

Easter Egg Semi-Final 4:

The closing semi-final is another star-studded field featuring the defending champion Dana Beatrice in box seven. If Dana Beatrice goes on to win the final next week, she will hit the history books as the only dog to win more than one Golden Easter Egg.

Also engaged in semi final number four is Snozz who caused another of last week’s upsets. The Jason MacKay-trained veteran proved an old dog can learn new tricks when he took out the second heat by four lengths to Flash Of Light with the odds-on favourite Lochinvar Marlow finishing fourth.

Trained by Robert Smith, Lochinvar Marlow has been lucky enough to still gain a run in the fourth semi this week after the Anthony Azzopardi-trained Excel Like Time was scratched due to injury.

Lochinvar Marlow moves up to box three in the race, which the promising dog will enjoy far more than his heat run from box six.

Other chances include the Robert Britton-trained Banger Harvey in box two and Bogie Bomber on the rails.

To view the final fields and box draws for all four semi finals click here.

The winners and runners-up from each semi will progress on to the $250, 000-to-the-winner final on April 3.

Wentworth Park’s scheduled card for Saturday night is a ripper, also featuring two heats for the Group 2 Globe Memorial Easter Chase as well as the Western Districts Cup Final. See below for the times and race details.

Classy runners engaged in the Easter Chase heats include Lochinvar Vogue, the fast paced Forty Twenty and the Graeme Bate-trained Jarvis Bale jumping from boxes two, four and six respectively in heat one.

The second Easter Chase heat is headlined by David Knockers’ super impressive and consistent Victorian stayer Drill ‘Em in box three. Drill ‘Em’s biggest dangers are Dashing Corsair (box two), Santino Marella (box six) and Whitfield Bale (box seven).

Coming off recent victories in both the Group 1 Galaxy and Group 1 Super Stayers, Drill ‘Em will be hard to beat both here and in next week’s final.

Wentworth Park Race Programme – Saturday March 27:

Drill ‘Em ($3.60) beat home the $3.10 favourite Jarvis Bale by an easy five lengths with classy Queenslander Dashing Corsair ($9.60) a further 2 ½ lengths back for third.

Jumping quickly from box five Drill ‘Em gained the lead early followed closely by eventual third placegetter Dashing Corsair wearing the white.

Drill ‘Em soon accelerated away widening his lead while Jarvis Bale got across without trouble from the outside box eight to snare second spot behind the pacemaker on the rails.

It was a dazzling all-the-way win for Drill ‘Em who maintained his five length lead throughout the final coming away with his fifth Group 1 victory.

Drill ‘Em, a son of Texas Gold, ran a scintillating 41.33 over the 715m final, breaking Jarvis Bale’s previous track record of 41.36 that was set in the heats for the Galaxy.

Saturday’s win was Drill ‘Em’s first victory wearing the yellow rug and his 16^th career win from 38 starts.

The Group 2 Easter Chase  at Wentworth Park is Drill ‘Em’s next goal

The other massive highlight at the Cannington meeting was the Group 1 Perth Cup where High Earner claimed a seven length win.

2010 SKY Racing Galaxy Results:

The 2010 Galaxy final features a sensational field of stayers including the fastest qualifier from the heats last week, Jarvis Bale.

The Graeme Bate-trained son of Sonic Flight ran a sensational 41.36 when defeating Sirocco Style and Blue Lorian by an easy four lengths. The run shattered the track record and it was only his second try at this trip.

Jarvis Bale will jump from box eight on Saturday night and while he has only won two of his twelve starts wearing the pink, is an excellent Each Way pick considering his seven placings from box eight and the fact that his impressive all-the-way heat win was from out wide in seven. Likely to start as the odds-on favourite.

Another highly fancied contender for the Galaxy is David Knocker’s brilliant son of Texas Gold, Drill ‘Em. Drill ‘Em ran a slick 41.43 when he finished ahead of Supreme Command and Symmetry in the third qualifier last week.

Recently named as the AGRA Greyhound of the Month, the four time Group 1 winner has drawn awkwardly in the final with box five. This draw is the only thing stacked up against the super star, as he has never won wearing the yellow rug.

Still, don’t discount him just yet. Drill ‘Em did defeat Jarvis Bale two starts back when he won the Group 1 Super Stayers and if he can find the lead early he is still in with a chance.

Winner of the second heat last week, Next Top Model, also has claims in the final on Saturday after the Victorian chaser drew well with box three. The Jason Thompson-trained bitch beat home Dashing Corsair and Satanic Cash in 41.61 in the qualifiers after jumping well from box five. If she gets away as good as she did then this time she is a definite contender.

Dogs well worth a look at for Place bets include Dashing Corsair and Blue Lorian.

Dashing Corsair was beaten by just under a length by Next Top Model here last week. The Dwyer Lennon-trained Queenslander has been a consistent runner placing second in three of his past six starts.

He stepped up to over 700m for the first time in January at Wentworth Park where he did well to win ahead of Jarvis Bale. Has a fairly solid strike rate wearing the blue and should finish up there in the money if all goes well for him.

Having secured the prized inside alley, the Peter Whye-trained Blue Lorian from NSW is another good bet for a place here on Saturday night. Despite finishing over six lengths back from Jarvis Bale in the opening heat last week, the better draw and first look at the track out of the way should improve the December 2007 whelp’s chances tremendously.

The 2010 Galaxy is scheduled as race five on the evening’s bumper 12-event programme and is due to jump at 8:27pm (WA time). The other feature final of the night, the Perth Cup, will run as race seven at 9:12pm.

2010 SKY Racing Galaxy Final Field & Box Draw:

Eight heats of the Perth Cup will take place and are scheduled as races one, two, six, seven, eight, nine, ten and eleven.

The Galaxy has three heats programmed as races three, four and five. For the times of each heat see the race programme below.

Perth Cup Heat 1:

The first Perth Cup heat features start sprinter Dyna Lachlan drawn in box eight. The Andrea Dailly-trained champion will jump as the hot favourite following his recent wins in both the Group 1 Adelaide Cup and the Group 1 Australian Cup. Dyna Lachlan has had just one start at Cannington in the National Sprint where he was narrowly defeated.

Other quality dogs engaged in the first qualifier include Queensland runner My Amigo and speedy bitch Joanne Monelli.

The Sandra Hunt-trained My Amigo looks good for a place here if he can get away well from box seven in his first start at Cannington.

Speedy bitch Joanne Monelli, who was one of WA’s Greyhound of the Year finalists, is drawn well in box two. One of the best chasers in WA if not Australia, she has displayed scintillating recent form of late winning six of her past eight starts and placing second in the other two. May cause an upset.

Perth Cup Heat 2:

The second Perth Cup heat is more of an open affair featuring a star-studded field headlined by odds-on favourite, Group 1 Hobart Thousand winner Prankster. The Robert Britton-trained son of Bombastic Shiraz has been on fire over the last few months, and if successful here will be running in his sixth Group 1 final since November.

Prankster’s biggest rival is the Graeme Bate-trained Dentax Bale in box seven. The son of Collision missed out on a spot in the Australian Cup when he fell in his heat and will be looking to make amends for this here.

Oxley Spirit has secured the prized inside running with box one. The daughter of Whisky Assassin is a fast starter and despite this being the toughest test in her short career, she has the speed to lead here and may be hard to catch.

The Darren McDonald-trained Octane Show is good dog and would be in with an excellent chance in his first start at WA since August if it wasn’t for his awkward box six draw and the class of his rivals. Still one to consider for an each way bet.

Perth Cup Heat 3:

The third qualifier has one of the most even fields of all the Perth Cup heats with at least four really strong chances.

Having secured the rails draw, the Linda Britton-trained Regent Diamond is a definite contender coming off an impressive Group 3 Sprint Challenge run from the same box last week.

South Australian chaser Strictly Mambo is also a big threat. Having drawn barrier two the Adelaide Cup runner-up won at trial here last start and if he jumps well will be one to watch.

The Kenneth Gill-trained Sunny Boy Love always shows good early speed and so has a chance here despite his box six draw. And finally, another of Anakie trainer Andrea Dailly’s contingent Allen Shaul in box three is a well positioned to at least place here with a solid strike rate.

Perth Cup Heat 4:

The fourth qualifier of the night stars hot Queenslander High Earner in box three. Is coming off a succession of good runs at Group level including a win in the WA Derby, fastest heat winner for the Group 1 Adelaide Cup and a close runner-up in the Group 1 Temlee. High Earner looked set for a sensational Australian Cup run too but fell in the final and will be looking to atone for that and finally secure a Group 1 victory this year.

The other highly fancied starter will be wearing the pink, the Mark Delbridge-trained Flash Of Light. The Victorian daughter of Premier Fantasy is a strong runner and has the speed and Group race experience, including a recent win in the Group 2 Rookie Rebel, to take the lead early and hold on for the win.

Flying Shambi has a brilliant record over this trip, winning all five from the rails. Is a proven chaser with plenty of ability and looks well positioned for a place or even a win here at decent odds.

Perth Cup Heat 5:

Zini’s Gump is a local runner with a good chance here following their recent form and their favourable box one draw. Other top dogs with claims in the fifth heat include the speedy son of Collide Sandhog in box five and Proven Jett wearing the green rug.

Proven Jet ran second to High Earner in their Group 1 Australian Cup heat and with an impressive record finishing no worse than fourth in 16 of his 17 starts, looks a real threat.

Also keep an eye on the Andrea Dailly-trained Manuel Bale in box eight who has a few great Group race heats up his sleeve.

Perth Cup Heat 6:

The sixth Perth Cup heat is dominated by Kay Size in box three with the Jason Thompson-trained Lady Gaga in box four also a consistent bitch with a chance here if they can gain a clear run.

Also on the path to success is Queenslander Pacific Maestro in box eight. Has plenty of ability as proved by his beating Dyna Lachlan in the Group 1 Silver Chief heats. One of the better chances in this qualifier.

Perth Cup Heat 7:

Wearing the red is Code One, a speedy son of Pure Octane who has a brilliant record at this track and enjoys the rails. Has won all four of his starts from this draw and has the stocks to win the seventh qualifier.

Other strong rivals include speedy black bitch Arvo’s Breeze drawn well in both three and the Darren McDonald-trained Ultra Rumble in box five having his second start at the Cannington track.

Perth Cup Heat 8:

The final Perth Cup qualifier of the night features another excellent eight dogs, headlined by Michael Stringer’s classy Topline Doovee, the bitch from Tasmania with the biggest chance here. A daughter of boom sire Bond, Topline Doovee is already a Group winner having taken out the Group 2 WA Oaks last year.

Also watch the dog in the pink, Hanify’s Legend. The Jason Thompson-trained Victorian chaser has finished in the money in 12 of his 15 starts. Has run second in two Group heats in recent times and looks a big show.

Galaxy Heats:

The three Galaxy qualifiers feature an elite line up of eager dogs with loads of talent. Big names in the heats include the brilliant Graeme Jose-trained son of Pure Octane Mantra Lad.

The sensational Victorian chaser looks set to take out the first Galaxy qualifier without a worry, drawn ideally in box two the multiple Group winner is a top chance with his only foreseeable threats being the Graeme Bate-trained Jarvis Bale in seven and New South Wales runner Blue Lorian in the pink.

Jarvis Bale has made the finals for 10 Group race finals in the past year and is a definite contender as is Blue Lorian who won the Group 3 Stayers Challenge here last week in his maiden run at WA.

The second heat has last year’s National Sprint champion Dashing Corsair looking ripe in box two, the classy Next Top Model with the speed to lead from box five and the emerging superstar Satanic Cash coming off a brilliant second in the Group 2 Zoom Top wearing the pink.

The third Galaxy qualifier is headlined by the dazzling Drill ‘Em fresh off a victory in the Group 1 Super Stayers at The Meadows. Drawn ideally in box two Drill’ Em is the one to beat here. Other dogs that have claims include Symmetry in box three and the impressive Group winner Forty Twenty in box five.

Finals for the Galaxy and Perth Cup will be held next Saturday night on March 13.

Race Programme – Cannington – Saturday March 6, 2010: