Budding superstar chaser Star Recall heads into tonight's Group 3 Solo Mandurah Cup (490m) with every opportunity to rectify the one glaring omission on her impressive resume.
Third in this year’s Perth Cup and second by a neck in the recent National Sprint final the extremely talented black bitch is overdue to get her paws on some group race silverware.
If ever there was an occasion to break the hoodoo it’s right now given Star Recall is racing in peak form.
Coming off back-to-back sub 30sec runs over the 530m at Cannington she delivered an imperious heat victory last weekend where she thumped her rivals by over eight lengths to stop the clock at 27.12, just outside the track record.
She is now undefeated in nine attempts at Mandurah and she has saluted in 12 of her past 16 races.
Trained by Linda Britton, who is herself an eight time winner of this race, Star Recall appears destined to use the Mandurah Cup as a stepping stone for greater things.
A win will likely gain Star Recall a berth in the Top Gun and a crack at the Melbourne Cup is also on the agenda.
On current form there’s little doubt that Star Recall will be able to mix it with the nation’s best but before that can occur she’ll need to take care of a handy field in the Mandurah Cup, which includes three kennelmates Burundi, Proven Will and Gomes.
The fact that she’ll jump from ‘the lemon’ and that there’s some speed on her inside has raised the degree of difficulty.
The main threats are quick launching kennelmate Burundi and the DAVE Robartson-trained Last Day, which were both successful during the heat stage in the identical time of 27.41.
Even if they manage to find the lead, however, it’s questionable whether either has the motor to hold out Star Recall.
The slowest Star Recall has ever run over this distance is 27.54 and she is capable of winning from behind as she demonstrated when she rounded up Fun Princess to capture the Mandurah Oaks in June.
And Star Recall is a better dog now than she was back then.
At Cannington on Saturday evening the Paul Stuart-trained youngster Quartz Bale steps out in the greyhoundsaspet.com.au Provincial Grade 5 (530m) after ripping out wins in his first three races in 30.31, 30.38 and 30.28.
The light fawn chaser, by American sire Yahoo Omar out of Zambola Bale, should make this a formality from the pole.
Expect to hear a lot more about this greyhound.
Best Bet: Guzby (Race 3)
Best Value: Moon Liner (Race 9)
Quaddie: Race 5 – 1, 2, 3, 4
Race 6 – 1, 6
Race 7 – 2, 5
Race 8 – 4, 5
$20 for 62.50%
