It was a huge night, and a thrilling finish to the feature event at Wagga Wagga on Friday night, with one of three runners from the ROY kennel claiming the Ladbrokes Graeme Hull Memorial Cup (525m).
Greyhound Racing NSW chief executive Tony Mestrov was trackside - along with a strong crowd - to witness the win of Gunshot Ridge in the $13,000 feature, and present connections with the prestigious Cup.
For Lorraine and Jack ROY, who have been training in the region for more than four decades, the victory was their first success in Cup.
"I'm very pleased as the prizemoney is good for a start, but besides that Graeme Hull was a monument to greyhound racing when he was alive and he was a good mate of mine," Jack ROY told Wagga’s Daily Advertiser.
"I used to come over here and speak to him all the time and I'm friends with his son, so it is a good race to win."
The ROYs qualified three runners for the $10,000 to the winner final - Gunshot Ridge, Charlie's Chance and Barbie's Chance - with Gunshot Ridge, who drew the rails, clearly the best chance of their trio.
The Braddon kennel were favoured to take the major prize home with their pair, Spring Jazz ($3.40) and Ferrero Miss ($2.70), battling for favouritism, with the ultimate winner on the third line of betting.
Gunshot Ridge ($6.30) jumped best and used the advantage of his speed and draw to lead to the post, but was crossed at the first turn, and settled in fourth behind Spring Jazz, Ferrero Miss and Sunset Warrior heading up the back straight.
But as the field approached the home turn, Gunshot Ridge powered past his rivals and went on to record a 1.25 length win in 30.67s. Spring Jazz held on for second, while Strickland ($10.10) ran home well for third.
"I thought he was a good chance and luck pays a part in all these big races," ROY said of the winner. "He had to come from behind, and you only have to get a check and you are not there, but he had the luck and fortune goes to the brave
