Queensland and Victoria were the big winners in the Group 1 National Sprint and Distance Championships at Albion Park on Friday night, with Jury winning the sprint title for the Sunshine State and Fanta Bale proving her brilliance in the stayers event.
Trained by the master Tony Brett, Jury began brilliantly in the National Sprint Championship from box three, recording a first sectional of 5.55.
With pre-race fancy Bewildering striking trouble at the first turn, it was up to the other Victorian greyhound Aston Dee Bee to run Jury down, but the Queensland dog was having none of it, running away to win by two-and-a-half-lengths in 29.88.
While Jury was outstanding in victory, run of the race arguably came from the South Australian greyhound On Fire, who rocketed home to finish second, with Aston Dee Bee in third. The NSW representative Bekin Street finished in fourth.
The win to Jury was the first for Queensland in the National Sprint Championship since Metz Magic won the event (also at Albion Park) in 2011.
In the National Distance Championship, Victorians continued their dominance in the feature race, by filling out the quinella.
Defying a market drift, Fanta Bale led the field through the first lap and then held off a big run home from Burn One Down to win in 41.71.
It was the sixth Group 1 victory for Fanta Bale (pictured), with the Robbie Britton-trained greyhound extending her career record to 28 wins from 44 starts.
Burn One Down finished second, while the Queenslanders rounded out the top four with Big Easy Red in third and Outside Pass in fourth. The NSW representative, Ebby Ripper, made ground late finishing fifth.
The win to Fanta Bale means Victoria has won the National Distance Championship for the past four years.
