WHAT a wonderful time of the year this is for punters; not only blessed with the spring carnival in the gallops industry but also the many group and listed races that will happen in the greyhound industry over the next six weeks.
The action really hots up tonight at The Meadows where the middle distance greyhounds get their chance at Group 1 glory in the final of the Hume Cup over the 600 metres. In addition, the Group 3 Silver Bullet over the 525 metres for the sprinters will be run.
To further add to the excitement of the evening at The Meadows tonight, the box draws for Saturday nights Group 1 Top Guns, for the Sprinters and for the Stayers, will be conducted on track. Both these events appear so even on paper pre the box draws, these box draws will be so important.
On Saturday night we witnessed the running of the Group 2 Cranbourne Cup over the 520 metres, and it was won in fine fashion by the David Geall trained Koblenz. There is no better bred dog in Australia than Koblenz, being a son of super sire Fernando Bale, out of the multiple group winning dam in Up Hill Jill. What a 12 months is Koblenz’s trainer David Geall having, this being his fourth Country Cup in Victoria, having already won three with Ferdinand Boy. Koblenz is second reserve in the Top Gun Sprinters on this coming Saturday, and wouldn’t he make it interesting if he were to obtain a start.
Let us attempt to steer punters into a few winners tonight, being Melbourne Cup eve we are sure the pools will be excellent at all venues.
The Meadows Race 3 No 1 Flying Lantern $2.50 at PlayUp
Resumed here last week after five months away from the track, and was an absolute certainty beaten, finding trouble everywhere he went before powering home to finish a narrow second. Will really appreciate the inside draw and does have the speed to be handy to the lead early. Strong at the end. We rate him our best of the night and your banker for your multi bets.
Albion Park Race 4 No 1 Pinto Falabella $1.75 at PlayUp
Excels from inside boxes. No luck last start from a wide draw but had raced impressively his previous runs here from inside draws. He is short but he does look the winner in a race that does not have a lot of depth.
Maitland Race 5 No 5 Zipping Yannick $2.05 at PlayUp
Resumed from a break with a fast win here at this track and distance last week, despite using plenty of the track. Will have gained great benefit from that run so should strip even fitter tonight. A dog to follow in the coming months as he could well feature in some of the upcoming group races at Wentworth Park. Yes.
The Meadows (Silver Bullet – Group 3) Race 6 No 5 Black Avenger $11.00 at PlayUp
Last two runs have been disappointing but has had a short break leading in to this event. Three runs back he was outstanding in running 29.63 here when winning by a dozen lengths. Blessed with dazzling speed when given space early and capable of breaking this field open. Huge each way odds and well worth an investment.
The Meadows (Hume Cup) Race 8 No 8 Bobby The Brute – PlayUp market
This is a very tough race, with chances galore in the event. We are selecting Bobby The Brute, as we think the dog drawn in box 7 will provide him with room by cutting to the rails and causing some issues for the inside dogs. At the odds, Bobby represents nice value on an each way basis.
