Anthony Azzopardi will have a strong team of greyhounds competing in this Friday night's Group 2 Cyril Rowe Gold Cup heats at Bulli, with four greyhounds from his Londonderry kennels making the trip down to the Illawarra track.
Headlining Azzopardi’s team is My Boy Snoop, who took out the Group 3 Bulli Gold Cup last year. The Gold Cup has this year been merged with the Cyril Rowe Cup to ensure this year’s event has been raised to Group 2 status.
My Boy Snoop has landed the pink rug in the third heat of night where he will face-off against the likes of Winsome Prince (box three) and Paua To Roar (box six).
The trainer is hopeful his greyhound can go back-to-back but believes things will need to go his way if he is to have a chance.
"The old-boy is going as well as ever but over the 472m he will need his luck," he said.
"Box eight is perfect for him being a wide runner and if he can come out with them and stay in touch until the turn, good luck running him down then."
Among Azzopardi’s other hopes is recent Dubbo Gold Cup winner Fancy Top, who will be trying to bounce back after a tough outing the final of the Group 3 Richmond Oaks last week where she ended up towards the rear of the field following a bad check at the start of the race.
With a prime draw in box one in the second heat, Azzopardi gives her every chance of qualifying for next week's final despite being in one of the toughest heats of the night.
"She is boxed perfectly and is a good beginner who will hold her line, so I have my fingers crossed she will be able to make something happen," the trainer said.
The in-form Adam Handler is another one of Azzopardi's runners who could feature in the final after coming up with his preferred outside draw in heat one.
The greyhound has now won two in-a-row at Wentworth Park and the trainer is confident his form will follow through to Bulli rating him as his best chance in the series.
"If he can nail the start, he will go really well," he said.
"He doesn't need to lead to win. All he wants is a clean run and if he gets it, he will qualify.
"Hopefully he will miss Star Torana in box one though. She likes to run off the track at the turn and could cause a bit of an issue."
Cosmic Angel rounds out the Azzopardi's quartet in the heat four but will face a tough challenge coming up against the likes of multiple Group winner Rue De Kahn (box four) and gun youngster Winsome Jacko (box five).
"Cosmic Angel is a rough chance. He can run on his day and has been trialling the house down recently, but really needs things to go his way and I don't think he will get it on Friday."
Apart from his own greyhounds, Azzopardi believes the Kelly Bravo trained Kayda Shade is the biggest threat in the fields.
The Victorian greyhound has drawn box two in heat three where he will meet My Boy Snoop.
"Kayda Shade is a good, young dog on the rise. He is a machine and in my opinion is the one to beat,” Azzopardi said.
"His one downfall might be that he hasn't seen the track before. If he can overcome that, I think he will go really well"
One of the other stand-out names in the heats is Group 2 Maitland Cup winner Spacecraft.
Spacecraft's trainer Lorraine Atchison has high hopes for her charge, who jumps from box six in heat two.
"We've got him feeling as good as he ever had," Atchison said.
"There is nice run into the first turn at Bulli, so I'm hoping he can sort himself out from the six and be in the lead going through the turn.
"He's running some really great times so I expect him to be right in it."
Fantastic Sid, trained by Jason Fletcher, will be hoping to win another Group title for the in-form kennel after his brother Fantastic Spiral took out the Group 3 Nowra Summer Puppy Classic earlier this month.
He jumps from box two in the last heat of the night and Fletcher is confident of a big show from the young greyhound.
"It's a tough heat with a lot of quality greyhounds but he's come up with a good box and goes really well at Bulli so I'm hoping he can do well," he said.
"This is definitely a step-up from the dogs he has been racing recently, so he will have to run a big race to qualify for the final."
Best Bet: Natural Player (Race 6)
Best Value: Silent Crash (Race 8)
Quaddie: Race 5 - 1, 4, 5, 8
Race 6 - 1, 2
Race 7 - 1, 2, 5
Race 8 - 1, 2, 7, 8
$20 for 20.83%
Check out the expert analysis for all the heats here.
