JODIE Lord’s Rohan Hill and Paul Braddon’s Double Up Dee have upset the more fancied chances and become the first two greyhounds to qualify for the semi-finals of the inaugural GRNSW + Ladbrokes Million Dollar Chase by finishing first and second in the Bathurst Regional Final on Monday night.
In a field laden with stars – notably odds-on favourite Miss Splendamiro, NSW National Sprint Championships representative Sky Wave, and recent Black Top winner Caitlyn Keeping, all heat winners last Monday – it was two outsiders who stunned punters.
The first shock came at the start. All the chatter had been about who would lead and where the favourites would land. Caitlyn Keeping was expected to get the lead, but Rohan Hill flew out of the three box, and the trio of stars couldn’t get across him. Rohan Hill not only held the lead, but heading into the back straight both Sky Wave first, then Miss Splendamiro received back checks, which effectively ended their hopes of qualifying.
Meanwhile, while the trouble was happening back in the pack, Rohan Hill was off and gone, leading from Caitlyn Keeping up the back and looking more like an odds on chance than a 33-1 hope, he went on to score by a half length in 29.81s.
Double Up Dee who was last on box rise, railed through into third along the back, and finished strongly to grab second, with Midnight Treat also running on to pick up third ahead of a desperately unlucky Miss Splendamiro in fourth.
Only last week Rohan Hill had finished second in her heat behind Miss Splendamiro, beaten seven lengths that night.
Both Rohan Hill and Double Up Dee now progress through to the semi-final of the $1.8 million series to be run at Wentworth Park on October 12. The winners of the eight semi-finals that night will progress to the $1 million to the winner grand final at the same venue eight nights later on October 20.
The result was also a great one for country trainers with the two qualifiers out of the Regional series hailing from Gunning (Rohan Hill) and Cowra (Double Up Dee).
JODIE Lord wasn’t at Bathurst. She took dogs to race at Nowra, and sent handler Nathan Tetley with Rohan Hill.
Asked if she didn’t have confidence in Rohan Hill, hence sending Nathan, he replied: “Oh, yes and no I think. I don’t think we were expecting him to win. We needed a bit of luck and we got a bit of luck.
“It was a return to form last week, he’d been out of form for a little bit. He seems to love Bathurst. We brought him here once before and he went 29.90s without having a look at the place. He’s just a good honest dog. And as you saw tonight, he can be very, very quick early.”
If that wasn’t enough luck for the kennel, there was an added bonus for Nathan making the two and half hour trip from Gunning to Bathurst.
“Everyone who walked in the gate got a ticket in a raffle, and I happened to win that as well. I think the prize is a trip to Sydney and $500 spending money,” he said. “It’s been a good night.”
For the beaten brigade it’s not the end of the road. They can all contest the city qualifiers to be held at Wentworth Park over three consecutive Saturday nights, commencing September 22.
Lismore will host the second of the Regional Finals on Tuesday night with another two greyhounds to join Rohan Hill and Double Up Dee in the semi-finals.
There will be three more Regional Finals held this week, with Maitland on Thursday, Wagga Wagga on Friday and then Bulli hosting on Saturday night.
