Normally in racing - and often in life - someone benefits from another’s misfortune.
In greyhound racing, it’s usually a reserve getting a last minute start due to a rival’s injury or illness, and sometimes – as the case was with Caitlyn Keeping in the Group 2 Black Top last month – the late call-up gets the prize.
For Jason Magri, it was a little bit different. His talented sprinter Zipping Falcon found trouble last week in the regional qualifying heats of the GRNSW + Ladbrokes Million Dollar Chase at Richmond. He missed a spot in the final and was drawn as first reserve.
Magri went about his business and decided to nominate Zipping Falcon for one of City Qualifiers this Saturday at Wentworth Park.
Unbeknownst to Magri, Zipping Falcon had gained a start at Richmond.
“No I didn’t realise at all. I didn’t even know,” he said. “It was a good phone call to get to let me know.”
And this time it was the result of someone else’s good fortune.
At Richmond last week, Jody Gordon’s Fast Car Driving booked his place in the regional final by winning one of the three heats. Jody then took the dog to Wentworth Park last Saturday where he finished third in a City Qualifying heat, and as such, directly qualified for the semi-finals on October 12.
Fast Car Driving no longer needed to race at Richmond, so he was scratched, and his spot in the final went to Zipping Falcon.
“I’ll be honest the eight box isn’t the best, but I’ll still take it, and hopefully he can qualify,” Magri said.
“He had the eight in Peter Mosman Final too. I’d prefer him on the inside rather than being out wide, because he’s not the flashest beginner and he wants to head to the fence.
“But, like I said, at least we’re in the race now.”
Zipping Falcon was not only favourite for his heat last week, he was considered a strong chance to advance to the Chase semi-finals, but instead he finished third behind the flying Jamella Jet who set the time standard of 30.47s.
“I don’t know if he was going to beat the winner, the winner was really good, but he got dragged down on the first turn and lost his momentum and he just couldn’t get the second dog … he’s (Rockstar Kyle) a strong dog too.
“The winner is a very fast dog and he ran very quick time. If you start giving dogs like that a start it’s very hard to beat them, especially if they are out in front running 30.4s. You’ve got to run 30.3s to run them down and that’s pretty hard, especially if you’re stuck in traffic as well.
”Hopefully that won’t be the case on Friday.”
It has been a big week for the Richmond club which announced the extension and upgrade of their sponsorship arrangement with Ladbrokes Digital Australia through until the end of 2022, with a further two-year option.
The new deal will include the ongoing support of the Richmond Oaks and Richmond Derby until 2023, also with a two-year option. Ladbrokes have also pledged their ongoing support of the Richmond Riches Puppy Auction and race series, as well as well as the monthly Red Dog series.
Richmond Chairman, Steve Moran was understandably ecstatic with the news, stating: "Ladbrokes are true friends and supporters of the Richmond Club and Greyhound Racing in NSW."
