In what was a remarkable night for broodbitch Solar Pak, her offspring were the stars in the qualifiers of two feature events on Friday night, and as a result she had two littermates qualify for the Richmond Riches final, and another two dominate down in Wagga Wagga in the heats of the club’s feature event, the Graeme Hull Memorial Cup.
At Richmond, the class runner of the series, Ray Smith’s Feral Franky, showed that class with a dominant win in his semi-final of the Richmond Riches, clocking 30.50s and confirming his stature as favourite for the $40,000 to the winner final which will be held next Friday night.
As expected the Peter Lagogiane-trained Knighthood led, but despite being only fairly away, Feral Franky was able to rail through and was second on the first turn. From there he was always going to be hard to hold out, and the son of Collision raced away up the back to record a 7¼ length win. Knighthood (31.00s) held on for second, with Micky Mccaw (31.04s) third and Fernando Porche (31.07s) fourth, to fill the four berths for the final.
Feral Franky’s brother and kennelmate, Freaky Franky, will also be in the final after finishing second in the other semi of the Riches.
Early speed was always going to be crucial in the opening semi of the event, and David Smith’s My Bro Ethics was the one who found the front at the post the first time, and then refused to surrender, clocking 30.95s.
My Bro’s Ethics - unlucky not to make the final of the Group 3 Ladbrokes Magic Maiden back in April when third in the semi-final to His Ticking - scored a stunning 17¾ length win in very fast 29.56s at The Gardens before being far from disgraced when fourth to Feral Franky in the Riches heats last week, so it was no surprise he has stormed into next week’s rich final.
Second went to Freaky Franky in 31.05s, with Run Juju Run (31.11s) third and Let It Happen (31.21s) filling the other place in next week’s final.
The box draw for the final is: 1 My Bro's Ethics, 2 Micky Mccaw, 3 Feral Franky, 4 Let It Happen, 5 Knighthood, 6 Freaky Franky, 7 Run Juju Run, 8 Fernando Porche, 9 Miss Ibrox, 10 Inversion.
At Wagga Wagga, leading Richmond trainer Frank Hurst ensured he will have a huge hand in next Friday’s $10,000 to the winner Graeme Hull Memorial Cup final following the heats of the feature event.
Kennelmates Good Odds Meghan and Good Odds Buddy – both by Collision out of Solar Pak like Feral Franky and Freaky Franky - were the stars of the night, both winning and both giving the five year old track record a gentle nudge in the process.
Ladies Bracelet placegetter Good Odds Meghan flew out of the boxes and was never in danger as she scorched away to a 30.10s victory, just half a length outside the track record of Chilly Babe set back in October 2013.
The following event saw Good Odds Buddy fairly away, but muster speed and charge to the lead rounding the first turn, and then race away for an impressive victory in a time of 30.14s.
The pair – along with Bob Payne Sprint winner Good Odds Harada - have been in stunning form of late, and carried that form with them to the Riverina.
Jodie Lord will have three finalists next week with all three of her kennelmates finishing second in the three heats.
Cawborne Marty tried valiantly after a slow getaway in finishing runner-up to Good Odds Meghan, Winlock Huddy chased hard behind Good Odds Buddy in finishing second, while Cawbourne Madox was second in the other heat behind tearaway leader, Gary Kimber’s Corleone King.
Corleone King – who turns five years of age next Wednesday - clocked 30.32s in winning and took his great record to 26 wins and 27 placings from 87 starts.
The other two finalists, were the fastest two thirds, Tennessee Tiger and Tom’s Desire.
On a big day of features, the Casino Club also hosted heats of one of their major events, the Casino RSM Club Beef Week Cup.
The opening heat was won by Warren Kempshall’s Modified Truck who led throughout from the eight box and clocked the best time of the day, 27.72s. Also advancing from the heat into next week’s final were TRay Bit, Cosmic Bonus (who was having his 100th race start), and Kooringa Molly.
In the second heat, it was an impressive win for Sally and Brendan Whelan’s Axle Whelan (pictured), also leading all the way, and clocking 27.88s, and just hanging on to beat Kingsbrae Biddy, Bokarm Bear and Good To Know, that trio also advancing to the $5,000 to the winner final next Friday afternoon.
* Photo courtesy of Lisa Vanderstok
