Just 24 hours after dominating the heats at Richmond, the Andrea Dailly kennel were at it again, this time taking out the Bulli Regional Final of the TAB Million Dollar Chase.
On Friday night the Daillys – one of not only Victoria’s, but Australia’s leading kennels – took eight dogs to Richmond, won each of the three heats and qualified five dogs for next Friday’s final.
On Saturday night in a Regional Final deemed the best the series has, and will see in 2019, the Daillys were to the fore again, this time with their young sprinter Shima Shine bringing his best form to the South Coast.
A veteran of just nine starts, Shima Shine headed to Bulli last Monday for the heats with a big reputation. He looked a little lost on the track but sneaked through to the final, then on Saturday, he jumped well, moved into second heading into the top turn, then surged to the lead after swinging for home, racing away for a 1½ length win over Pindari Express, with the Jeff Britton trained pair, early leader Western Envoy, and National Sprint Champion Premium Share, finishing third and fourth and also qualifying for the semi-finals of the series at Wentworth Park on October 11
Shima Shine, who doesn’t turn two until November, broke the Ballarat 450m track record last month. He has now won seven of those nine starts, and on Saturday clocked a very slick 26.05s.
“You could definitely see he was lost in the heats. His last 50m he stormed home when he balanced up and he went good, and I was very pleased with his heat run and he went better tonight, we just hope he keeps going,” said Tom Dailly.
“Yeah, he’s a very talented pup. He’s only young but he had to step up at some stage and like I said to someone, there is no point just running around at Ballarat with the speed he’s got. There is a good series up here so he may as well try his luck and he’s through to the semis and now it gives us a few weeks to see how we get him around Wenty.”
While he has abundant speed, Shima Shine has only raced on one turn tracks – Ballarat, Warragul, and now Bulli - and the Chase semis and grand final are obviously run at Wentworth Park.
Tom said they will now plan to take the young pup to Wentworth Park for a look prior to the October 11 semi-finals.
The Daillys have trained many champions in the sport, notably two millionaire prizemoney winners, Dyna Double One, and the greyhound many consider the greatest of all time, Fernando Bale, so they know a good dog when they see one, even at a young age.
Asked if Shima Shina has the potential to be a very good greyhound, Tom replied: “He does, but as you say it’s potential. A lot of dogs show potential but they have to step up and do it, but at this stage we couldn’t be more happy with the way he’s going.”
Tracey Scruse, trainer of Pindari Express was delighted with her dog’s performance.
“That’s all I was hoping for, that he could finish in the first four and qualify,” Scruse said. “This is the hardest field he’s ever been in, so I’m absolutely stoked.
“I am looking forward to the semis. I’ll take him back out there (Wentworth Park) and give him another trial out there, and let him know where he is again because he’s not as experienced at Wenty as he is on the horseshoe tracks.”
While his best form is on the one turn tracks, Pindari Express did win a heat of the Golden Easter Egg in Sizzling 29.41s.
