Shima really does Shine at Bulli
On Saturday night at Bulli, in a Regional Final deemed the best the series has, and will see in 2019, the Dailly kennel from Victoria were to the fore, with their young sprinter Shima Shine bringing his best form to the South Coast for the TAB Million Dollar Chase.
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 fairly, 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.
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.
The kennel now plan to take the young pup to Wentworth Park for a look prior to the October 11 semi-finals.
Watch Shima Shine take out the Bulli Regional Final here
Another Solar Pak offspring into the semis
The more the story evolves, the more remarkable it becomes. Siblings ... three brothers and one of their sisters, have now all qualified for the semi-finals of the TAB Million Dollar Chase. Just a remarkable tale.
First there was Good Odds Harada and his sister Solar Sky – members of the Collision-Solar Pak litter, advancing to the October 11 semis of the world richest greyhound race from the Bathurst Regional Final.
The following night the sport’s latest superstar Feral Franky – a brother of the Bathurst qualifiers – smashed the track record at Gunnedah on his way to qualifying for the Chase semis.
Then, on Thursday night, it was another sibling, Good Odds Buddy, racing away for a resounding win in the Dapto Regional Final.
Good Odds Buddy (Pictured) raced away to win by 1½ length from the fast finishing Kraken Spike, just ahead of My Bro’s Ethics, with Furious Not Fast finishing fourth and grabbing the final semi-final spot which was on offer.
Watch Good Odds Buddy win the Dapto Regional Final here
Perfect Picture for Mark at Casino
Certainly by numbers the Queenslanders looked to have a strong grip on the event, but it was a local - one who travelled all of three kilometres to get there - who took out the Casino Regional Final of the TAB Million Dollar Chase on Friday afternoon.
Painted Picture, trained by Mark Wilkes, maintained a marvelous record at his home track and staved off the Queenslanders to take out the Final and qualify for the Million Dollar Chase semi-finals to be held at Wentworth Park on October 11.
The story behind how Wilkes came about Painted Picture is an interesting one.
Wilkes helped out his good mate Terry Jordan by paying for the service to Fernando Bale for Terry’s bitch Amy Lyndan.
“It’s a bit of a long story, but I said to Terry that if I pay for the straw and the vet, we’ll make a deal with whatever comes, and in that deal I ended up picking two dogs and one of them was Painted Picture.”
Jordan too did well from the litter securing Fernando Blaster who was a luckless favourite in the Group 1 National Derby earlier this year and won a heat of the Group 1 Golden Easter Egg.
The Sunshine State did get their first 2019 Million Dollar Chase semi-finalists, with Selena Zammit’s Pitch Black Jet finishing second, just a head away, Brandi Alexander trained by Tom Tzouvelis was third a further three lengths back, while Craig Hazelgrove’s Wise Misty was a half head away in fourth, securing the final semi-final berth.
Watch Picture Pefect win the Casino Regional Final here
Lagogiane chasing another Million
Peter Lagogiane produced two TAB Million Dollar Chase semi-finalists at Gosford on Tuesday night, with Double Back winning and Shez Got Soul finishing fourth and claiming a semi-final berth.
“We couldn’t be prouder of them both, and more than anything happy for the owners of both dogs. Our new acquisition Shez Got Soul, and this bloke has been with me since day dot, we’re very happy,” he said.
“That was pretty good. We said this bloke can run a bit of time and he just had to come out at the start and he did that.”
Double Back clocked a slick 29.25s in beating Nangar Jack by 3¾ lengths with Jamella Jet third ½ length away, and Shez Got Soul a further ¾ length away in fourth.
Watch Double Back win the Gosford Regional Final here
Daillys take the broom to Richmond heats
The Victorian kennel of Andrea Dailly dominated the Richmond heats of the TAB Million Dollar Chase on Friday night while defending Chase champion Mystic Riot failed to qualify for the Regional Final, and must now look for another avenue into the semi-finals.
The Daillys won all three heats at Richmond, filling the first two placings in two of those and as a result will have five finalists in next Friday’s event.
The pick of the trio of winners was the last, Jaro Bale, who stalked leaders Mystic Riot and Black Forge, before taking over up the back straight, and racing away for a victory in 30.53s, easily the fastest of the night. Second was Shanjo Prince, with Mrs Emgrand a great third and picking up a spot in the Regional Final with the effort.
Mystic Riot will head to LADBROKES GARDENS on Saturday September 21 for another shot at reaching the semi-finals.
Watch Jaro Bale winning his heat of the MDC at Richmond here
Tale to two Midnights at Dubbo
Most expected a dog called Midnight would be the winning story out of the Dubbo heats of the TAB Million Dollar Chase on Sunday night. It just wasn’t the Midnight everyone anticipated.
David Pringle’s brilliant speedster Midnight Dare was tipped to be the talk of the track, and some even considered the track record might get a gentle nudge.
But while Midnight Dare floundered, Midnight Joyce had tongues wagging.
A year ago at the Dubbo track when Midnight Starlet flew around the track, smashed the track record and qualified for the Million Dollar Chase semi-finals. She would then go on to win her semi and reach the inaugural grand final, finishing behind the placegetters.
On Sunday her sister Midnight Joyce had her Million Dollar Chase moment when she stormed home to catch runaway leader Nagar Gift in the shadows of the post and cause a boilover in the Dubbo heats.
Starting an $81 chance with TAB fixed odds, Midnight Joyce clocked 29.79s at her Dubbo debut, and booked her berth in next Saturday’s Regional Final.
Unlike Midnight Joyce, Midnight Dare was at the other end of the market when her turn arrived to race, sent out a very warm favourite.
But after stepping only moderately, then being checked soon after, Midnight Dare didn’t handle the track on the first turn, swung wide and was a long last heading up the back.
If there was a saving grace, it was that she managed to pass two rivals in the six dog field and fall into fourth, thus securing a spot in Saturday’s Regional Final.
Victory went to the locally-trained Annabel Keeping for Charmaine Roberts.
The box draw for next Saturday’s final is: 1 Connie’s Boy 2Cliff Keeping 3 Midnight Dare 4 Buck’s Future 5 Midnight Joyce 6 Jimmy Casey 7 Annabel Keeping 8 Nangar Gift 9 Clare Fallon 10 Winlock Ramierz.
Watch Midnight Joyce win her MDC heat at Dubbo here
Not Feral Franky’s night at Sandown
Cult hero Feral Franky was unable to take his winning form south of the border in the Speed Star Series at Sandown on Sunday night.
The Feral was narrowly beaten by Lucky’s Milo in his match-race. The Sprint series was won by the flying Hooked On Scotch.
