It was a case of keeping it all in the family at Nowra on Monday night with the heats of the TAB Million Dollar Chase.
Two heats of the event were held, and both were won by Victorian trainer Robert Camilleri, the first with Zipping Norton, the second with Awesome Catch.
His partner, Deb Coleman, who brought the dogs up from Melbourne last week, also trains Zipping Magda who finished third in the second heat and booked a place in Sunday’s Regional Final. Deb’s daughter Kayla-Jane, had her dog Dissociative, finish fourth in the opening heat, to also qualify for the final.
Adding to the sentimentality of the night, Nowra had been home for Deb for more than two decades.
“It is a special night. I was here for a long time. I’d hate to think how long,” Deb said. “I think Kayla was about 2 when I started here and she’s 34 now. I worked here at the track and I was their casual steward as well until I went into fulltime stewarding. I stopped stewarding about 7 years ago.
“It’s fantastic to sort of come back home.
“All the dogs went really well tonight. They have been in really unfamiliar surroundings while we have been here and haven’t been able to do exactly what they are able to do at home, and both those dogs in the same race - Awesome Catch and Zipping Magda - have run terrific races and Zipping Norton just loves the inside draw so we thought he’d be a great chance.”
Deb explained they haven’t had Awesome Catch in the kennel for too long and he was having just his fourth start for them.
Awesome Catch actually contested the Million Dollar Chase series last year when trained by Vince Tullio and narrowly missed a semi-final spot when third to Big Butters in the Richmond Regional Final.
Zipping Norton had run some good races without much luck in the Nowra Puppy Classic earlier this year, but off the one box on Monday, he led the heavily-supported Bit Flash, and while the runner-up would Chase hard, he never threatened the winner.
Zipping Norton clocked a handy 29.93s on the wet track.
Third went to Sweet Nangar with Dissociative finishing fourth that pair both qualifying for the Nowra final.
Both Awesome Catch and Zipping Magda looked in trouble on the first turn, but both overcame their dramas and ran home strongly to claim their spots in the Regional Final.
Awesome Catch posted 30.33s in beating the leader, Golden Easter Egg finalist Banjo Tifia, with Cashien finishing fourth to snatch the last qualifying position.
The box draw for the final is: 1 Banjo Tifia 2 Dissociative 3 Zipping Magda 4 Sweet Nangar 5 Bit Flash 6 Zipping Norton 7 Awesome Catch 8 Cashien 9 Bogan Doonie 10 Stilton Sox.
