Renowned slow starter Bessy Boo could not have picked a better race to improve his box manners with his surprisingly quick getaway leading him to a shock victory in the $75,000 to the winner Group 1 Rapidvite Peter Mosman Classic at Wentworth Park on Saturday night.
Bessy Boo (pictured) stunned even his supporters when he was third behind Push It and Stilton Blue going through the catching pen before advancing to second position leaving the back straight.
From there it was a matter of “how far" for the powerful finisher and he zoomed past pacemaker Push It turning for home before withstanding a late challenge by All Strung Out to win in 29.71.
Bessy Boo’s previous best Wentworth Park time had been 29.99 so the dog’s good getaway enabled him to find the equivalent of threeandahalf lengths.
There have not been as many popular big race wins because Bessy Boo is trained by Christine and Alan Proctor, two of the sport’s stalwart trainers who are considered true battlers.
But after the race Alan revealed he had been “filthy" when Bessy Boo, drawn as a reserve, gained a start in a semifinal of the Peter Mosman on June 14.
Bessy Boo had finished a distant fifth from box one, in Cawbourne Whip’s 29.50 heat so with their dog unlikely to secure a start in the semis the Proctors nominated him for a fifth grade race on semifinal night.
"He was in a race I thought he could win and I was filthy when we got the call to say we had to scratch him from the fifth grade because he had got a run from box four in a Classic semi," Alan said on Saturday night.
It is history now that Bessy Boo, a $28 chance, got up to run second in Stilton Blue’s semi-final before landing the big one on Saturday night.
The training feat of the Proctors should not be underestimated though because just a month ago the dog had won over the 720 metres staying journey at Wentworth Park.
The biggest run of the night was All Strung Out’s performance to finish second, beaten less than a length, by Bessy Boo.
There is no doubt All Strung Out was the fastest dog in the race but he bungled the start from his unsuitable box eight and was a conspicuous last at the first turn.
But as they say, boxes win big races and Bessy Boo certainly made full use of the rails alley while All Strung Out was trapped in “no man’s land" for most of the race.
Click here to view the replay of the Peter Mosman Classic.
In other results, connections of Creepy Coupe gave credit for their dog’s career best performance on Saturday night to fellow trainer John Chapman.
Creepy Coupe had not broken 30 seconds in 17 previous Wentworth Park starts but on Saturday ran the hands off the clock to lead throughout in 29.71.
After the race trainer Adam Wade’s foreman, his brother Paul, said: "We sent Creepy Coupe and Bella Senora to John Chapman a few weeks back and asked him to train them.
“Bella Senora wasn’t doing much so we asked John to send them both back but since his stint at John’s place Creepy Coupe has absolutely grown a leg."
Saturday’s race was worth $20,000 to the winner so I reckon John Chapman will be on the Wade brothers’ Christmas card list for 2014.
Keybow is off to Brisbane for Thursday night’s heats of the Winter Carnival Cup at Albion Park following his 29.57 best of the night win at Wentworth Park on Saturday.
But despite running one of her greatest races in finishing a desperately unlucky third to Zipping Willow and Rue De Kahn in 29.70 on Saturday, last year’s joint Greyhound of the Year Double Twist will not be making the trip.
"I’ll keep her at Wentworth Park and get her ready for the Dapto Megastar and the National Sprint Championship," trainer Garry Edwards said on Saturday.
"I took Double Twist to Melbourne once and despite travelling well she did no good down there so it is very hard to beat the local greyhounds on their own tracks."
Dusty Moonshine became one of the most potentially valuable brood bitches in Australia with her sizzling 41.94 win over 720m at Wentworth Park on Saturday night.
Greyhounds seldom get anywhere near the 42 second mark when tackling the Wentworth Park 720m trip for the first time but Denice Warren’s bitch, who broke the Gosford 731m record on June 3, handled the task with ease.
Dusty Moonshine is a half sister to the sensational youngster Shakey Jakey so when she is finally retired her puppies will be worth a king’s ransom.
See you next week!
