Joyanna was the surprise star qualifier for Saturday night’s Richmond Riches Puppy Classic, with the John Antonelli-trained greyhound setting the fastest time in the semi finals.
Joyanna, who qualified for the semi final with a second placing behind Et Cetera in his heat, managed to rail up around the first turn and then powered away from the rest of the field to win in 30.31.
The well bred son of Barcia Bale and Lagoon Lowanna will now jump from box four in the Richmond Riches Puppy Classic final, in which he and trainer Antonelli, who is based at Grafton, will vie for the $100,000 winners prize.
Standing in their way will be Thirty Talks(pictured), who will likely be favourite for Saturday’s final.
Thirty Talks, who is trained by Tony Brett in Queensland, maintained his unbeaten record at Richmond, cruising to a comfortable victory in 30.37.
The $30,000 purchase will now jump from box two in Saturday’s final, a draw in which he has had one start for one victory in his career.
Other semi final winners on what was a great night of racing at Richmond were the Vincent Bennett-trained Brock On and the Judith Fisher-trained Vidi Vici.
Brock On took out the first semi final, jumping beautifully from box four and running away from the field in 30.66.
Vidi Vici, meanwhile, held off a fast finishing Ritza Lenny to win to score a gallant win in 30.71.
The run of Ritza Lenny, who is a littermate of Joyanna, was an eye-catcher, with the Mark Gatt-trained greyhound blundering at the start and making huge ground to go under by less than a length.
Unfortunately for Ritza Lenny and his connections, he has the same draw for the final that he did for the semi final (box seven), as he seemingly prefers an inside draw.
The Richmond Riches Puppy Classic series is open to greyhounds sold at the 2014 Richmond Puppy Auction.
The final will be held on Saturday night at Richmond with the winner collecting $100,000 in prizemoney.
Box draw for the Richmond Riches Puppy Classic final is: 1. Struggle Street 2. Thirty Talks 3. Unique Gatsby 4. Joyanna 5. Brock On 6. Megalodon 7. Ritza Lenny 8. Vidi Vici. Reserves: 9. Paua To Avoid 10. Billy’s Idol
