Sweet It Is may have been relegated to second placing in her Chairman’s Cup heat at Wentworth Park but her clash with the irrepressible Xylia Allen in this Saturday’s final is as mouth-watering as ever.
While Xylia Allen took her earnings to a whopping $731,920 with her all-the-way win in a sensational 41.76 in heat one of the 720m Group 3 race, Sweet It Is was a certainty beaten when second to Zipping Maggie in a slick 42.00 in heat two.
Sweet It Is (pictured) was last to leave the boxes and on two occasions ran into the back of Queen Marina while angling for a rails run at an early and middle stage of her heat.
When Sweet It Is decided to pull to the outside she got a clear run but by then Zipping Maggie had soared away with a huge break and the National Distance Championship winner had to contend with the runner’s-up purse.
As expected the Chairman’s Cup final is dominated by Victorian greyhounds, with My Asuncion the sole NSW qualifier.
The box draw for the final is: 1. Bailey Rose 2. My Asuncion 3. Zipping Maggie 4. Sweet It Is 5. Xylia Allen 6. Zipping Rory 7. Liara Allen 8. Gold Affair Two 9. Dyna Willow 10. Queen Marina.
Interstate and overseas raiders have dominated the Chairman’s Cup since 2007 when Victoria’s Flashing Floods won in 42.61.
Since then the only local winner has been Your Signature in 2010 with Victorians having a stranglehold on the race apart from Tasmania’s Chinatown Lad winning in 2008 and Know Peace, from NEW ZEALAND, landing the trophy in 2012.
Victoria’s Proven Impala set the race record of 42.01 last year but those figures look certain to be lowered in next Saturday’s final.
Surprise packet of Saturday’s Chairman’s Cup heats was the gallant second by the Robert Britton-trained Gold Affair Two, a rising five year old who chased Xylia Allen all the way.
In other action at Wentworth Park on Saturday night, Addison Road’s all-the-way win in Saturday’s AAA Radiator Specialists Stakes strengthened trainer Mark Gatt’s grip on the 2014 Sydney Trainers’ Premiership.
Gatt’s team has been reduced by the sale to China of his brilliant speedsters Red Road and Boyce Road but Addison Road’s win was the Thirlmere mentor’s 24th Wentworth Park win this year.
He now leads the Premiership race by two wins from Anthony Azzopardi while Christine Proctor has scored 21 successes.
Most trainers hope for box one, or, in the case of a wide runner, box eight, but Jason Magri’s Invictive is a box three and four specialist.
When she bullocked her way to the lead at the first turn on Saturday before holding off a late challenge from the old marvel Watto Lotto, Invictive scored her second win in three starts from box four.
And from box three her record is even more impressive, with her tally while wearing the white rug being seven starts for five wins.
After Saturday’s race trainer Magri’s brother Ray commented: “When Invictive draws the rails she can get cut out early while from the extreme outside she wants to veer in too much.
“From box three or four she seems to drive harder to the first turn."
Jason Magri added: “I have had a lot of greyhounds which have been faster than Invictive but she is a great little greyhound because she has managed to win six races at Wentworth Park without ever breaking 30 seconds!
“It just shows what a good turn of early speed can do."
Six weeks ago it would have been unthinkable to envisage Apollo Reign leading all the way against a slick field in a Wentworth Park 520m event but the Michael Cope-trained dog did just that when he recorded a personal best 29.81 on Saturday night.
"He fractured a hock at Wenty a year ago and since then had not been performing as well there as he was going in trials," Michael said.
“So I took him away from Wentworth Park for a few weeks and gave him a couple of 600 metre races at Dapto and that seems to have done the trick by restoring his confidence completely."
See you next week!
