On Sunday, the Melbourne Greyhound Racing Association (MGRA) announced the inaugural eight Slot Holders for the 2021 Phoenix, which will be held on Saturday night 18 December 2021 at The Meadows, The Phoenix is a slot race, each slot costing $75,000, with $750,000 going to the winner.
A total of 14 applications were received in total, with an Independent Panel chaired by former Victorian Premier Dennis Napthine, provided with the task of analysing each applicant before selecting the successful slot holders. To the surprise of many, four racing bodies from New South Wales, Queensland and West Australia were amongst the successful applicants. Much interest will centre on how these bodies will select their greyhound for the event, with WA already announcing their plan yesterday. And the plan devised Greyhounds WA looks to be a great concept, and will be known as the Road to The Dogs WA Phoenix. 1st & 2nd in the Group 2 All Stars Final and the Group 3 Young Stars, both run at Cannington in late October and early November, get a Ticket, then on Saturday 20 November 32 greyhounds will compete in 4 races with 1st from each race also getting a Ticket. Once the 8 qualifiers have been determined they will be split into 2 fields of 4 greyhounds who will race at Cannington on Saturday 27 November, with the 2 winners of each race progressing to a match race at Cannington on Saturday 4 December. The winner of this match race will become The Dogs WA Phoenix slot holder. The qualifying events will be open to greyhounds from all states, thus providing WA with great exposure for the industry as a whole. It will be very interesting to see what New South Wales and Queensland decide in relation to how they will select/finalise the greyhound that will represent them in the event.
The focus tonight will be on Angle Park in South Australia, where finals of both the SA Oaks and the SA Derby will take place, both events being Group 3 events. Racing only recently resumed at Angle Park after a six month break, with a full track restructure and upgrade was undertaken during the time of the racing recess. The early reports on the track and surface have been extremely positive, fantastic news for participants especially with the fast approaching Adelaide Cup scheduled for next month.
Albion Park Race 1 No 3 East Does It $3.80 at PlayUp – Only had a few starts but already has shown that he prefers an inside box draw. Found trouble last week from box 7 but still ran on very well in the closing stages to finish 4th. Looks so much better suited tonight and we think he is the best bet of the night, and at nice odds. Make him your multi banker.
Dapto Race 2 No 1 Lucky Fernando $5.00 at PlayUp – In the strong Michael Hardman kennels, this son of Fernando Bale has recorded impressive wins at Bathurst and Goulburn in between below average performances at the same venues. Does begin well and we can see him finding the lead here, or sitting on the 8 dog, and then powering to victory.
Albion Park Race 5 No 1 Riverbank Queen $2.10 at PlayUp – Simple loves an inside draw as she is desperate for the rails. Crashed over last start from a wide draw to record a nice in in a field similar to this. Has the speed to lead all the way in this. Yes.
SA Oaks Final Angle Park Race 6 No 8 Zinfandel Nikki $3.50 at PlayUp – Smashed a start last week from her rails draw as she tried to get wide. This draw is perfect. She is very strong also, and a winner at the track in good time. For us she is clearly the best dog in the race and extremely well drawn. Odds look very generous.
SA Derby Final Race 8 No 1 Came And Went $1.75 at PlayUp – Dominant heat winner leading from the jump. Ran very good time. Looks like a real star in the makings. Hard to see him being headed in the run to the first corner, and once in front he should win. Yes.
