Angle Park, in Adelaide, will be the centre of attention over the next three weeks, culminating with the running of the final of the Group 1 Adelaide Cup, worth $100,000 to the winning connections, on Friday 7th October. Following on from the finals of the SA Oaks and Derby last Thursday, tonight sees the running of the Match Race Interstate Challenge, where 4 South Australian greyhounds match race against 4 interstate rivals, with the overall winner guaranteed a place in the Adelaide Cup final, bypassing next weeks cup heats. No doubt all eyes will be on the SA owned, but Victorian trained Aston Rupee, who recently broke the Sandown Park 515 metre track record. Taking on Rushes, Aston Rupee will exist from box 1 in his match race and it would be very surprising if he does not become the first greyhound to go under the 30 seconds barrier at the recently revamped Angle Park.
The big news coming out of New South Wales is the long awaited return to racing from next Wednesday at headquarters, Wentworth Park. This is great news for participants, and with a number of group events to be held during October, trainers will be eager to have their charges primed for the bigger money events, having missed out on so much this year due to Covid restrictions. This will be great for the industry as a whole, and for the greyhounds also who have been racing at the outlying tracks for so many months now. Despite our best of the night getting home last Saturday, it was generally a night of near misses and what could of beens. Let us hope that tonight we can find some nice winners for our followers.
Sandown Park Race 12 No 4 Caroline $2.20 at PlayUp – Trained by the “Maltese Maestro”, Anthony Azzopardi, whose dogs perform so well at Sandown. This field is not overly strong and this girl has been showing plenty of promise on the provincial circuit in recent weeks. Has the speed to lead this field and hopefully can hold on.
Albion Park Race 3 No 1 Savage Victor $3.00 at PlayUp – Stepping up to the 520 metres after three runs over the shorter trips after a ten week break from racing. Has won over the 515 metres at Launceston before moving north. Nice record from inside draws, suited this field.
Albion Park Race 4 No 2 Stanton Warrior $3.30 at PlayUp – We are not giving up on this bloke, despite him having proved costly in the past. Clearly the most talented dog in this field, and drawn much better tonight. We actually think he is the best bet of the night, and our banker for your multi bets tonight.
Dapto Race 4 No 1 Zipping Moose $2.40 at PlayUp – Resuming from a 4 month break from racing after going amiss at Wentworth Park back in May. But he is in very good hands with Jason Magri, and is better than this field if fit and well. Draw suits, having won two from three out of box one in the past.
Angle Park Race 9 No 1 Mepunga Warrior $1.95 at PlayUp – Perfect draw for this Victorian visitor who should be very well suited around this venue. Excellent past record from inside draws. Been racing over the 600 metre trips in Victoria so will be very strong in the final stages. Could return next week and figure prominently in the cup heats.
