A massive injection into prizemoney for the Group 3 Bundaberg Greyhound Racing Club Cup, over 531m, has resulted in a stellar field for the final at Thabeban Park today.
Following last Monday’s heats, six of the eight boxes will be filled by metropolitan-trained runners, lured to the Rum City track by the massive $112,525 cup booty.
Just two country chasers are in the final, Midnight Cambla, which is trained at Goodwood by Stephen Bland and was the Wildcard ballot winner after finishing last in his heat behind Shaye, and 460m track record holder Springview Magic from the Belli Park kennels of Eric Conroy, which was runner-up to Inevitable in his heat.
The Zammit clan have a of total four runners in the ‘big dance’, Tony (Deemed A Liar and Go Bing, which won the first two heats) and sister-in-law Selena (Inevitable and All Natural, which ran second to Shaye), while young Brisbane trainer Jedda Cutlack also has two (Shaye and Showdown, which chased Deemed a Liar home).
AGRA Hall of Famer Tony, who has been involved in the Industry for 40 years, has won 11 Queensland Trainers Premierships, and first took out the Bundaberg Cup in 1983 with Pewterfrost, which went on to be crowned the Queensland Greyhound of the Year, described this as “a very good Bundaberg Cup field and a tough race to win”.
“Selena and (his brother) Michael’s two saw the track for the first time last week and so will be even better for that run. Inevitable (Box 7) in my mind, at this stage, will pose the biggest danger,” Tony said.
“Also, Springview Magic (Box 1) knows the track well and is a record-breaker on the track, so also will be a major threat.
“Go Bing (who won heat 2 ahead of Say Some Words and (Tony’s own) Adulate, is well-suited coming out of Box 3 because she likes the fence and Deemed A Liar is okay from Box 8.
“I was really happy with Go Bing’s run because she missed the start and had to work to get a decent run.
“So that is encouraging considering she can ping the lids.”
Go Bing is a litter sister to Michael Zammit’s boom dog Jay Is Jay and is owned by Jason O’Sullivan, the son-in-law of the third Zammit brother George, who owns the Zammit Rearing And Spelling Farm, near Ipswich.
“This is Jason’s first greyhound, so to be in a Cup race is a big thrill. Go Bing is developing into a strong dog, so this could be very interesting,” Tony said.
The Cup is race eight at 2.09pm.
There are nine races on the bumper program, with the first set to fly at 11.49am.
The Group 3 Bundaberg Cup (531m) Box draw is: 1. Springview Magic (Eric Conroy); 2. All Natural (Selena Zammit); 3. Go Bing (Tony Zammit); 4. Midnight Cambla (Louise Cameron); 5. Showdown (Jedda Cutlack); 6. Shaye (Jedda Cutlack); 7. Inevitable (Selena Zammit); 8. Deemed A Liar (Tony Zammit. Res: 9. Say Some Words (Darren Taylor); 10. Hello Wally (Travis Elson).
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