At 6.30am on Friday, at their Pearcedale home in Victoria, Seona Thompson climbed into her car, and her husband Jason into his, and both set off in different directions – Seona north, Jason west. They ended the night about 1400km apart, but both as big winners.
Seona brought Black Opium to Wentworth Park and she won her semi-final of the TAB Million Dollar Chase. Jason went to Adelaide, and 50 minutes after his wife’s success, he won the Group 1 Adelaide Cup with Hooked On Scotch.
The Thompsons were the stars of semi-final 12 months ago, qualifying three runners for the inaugural $1 Million to the winner event – Poke The Bear, Azkaban, and Midnight Starlet. On that same night last year, they also won the Adelaide Cup with Real Simple.
This year they had just one dog in the MDC semi-finals, and that was all they needed as Black Opium flew the lids and never looked in danger, clocking the second fastest time of the eight semi-finals, 29.46s.
The semi-final time standard went to the Jason MACKAY-trained Get It Gizmo who charged to the lead off the eight box and clocked 29.45s. MACKAY also qualified Flying Bazza for the final and is the only trainer with multiple runners.
“How good is this?” MACKAY said. “I think it’s an outstanding concept this race. Here we are now you’ve got a dog in 520m race that takes 30s, and you’ve got a million on offer.
”They are two very different dogs, and it has taken a bit of time for Get It Gizmo to work it out up here after coming from Victoria, but that’s something near what we were looking for tonight.”
The final field for next Friday’s feature contains five NSW-trained dogs – Get It Gizmo, Pindari Express, Jimmy Casey, Good Odds Harada, and Flying Bazza while three hail from Victoria – Black Opium, Shima Shine, and Curt Lee.
Seona Thompson was thrilled with the victory of Black Opium.
“It’s a great feeling to be in the first semi and get it over and done nice and early,” she said. “It’s a long drive. I left home at 6.30am this morning and drove all the way through. Jason left home at the same time, and we were comparing notes about where we both were along the way.
“She just does everything right this girl, she’s an angel.
“It was amazing feeling being a part of this race last year. Last year was brilliant. It was incredible. It was one of the best things we have ever been involved in and just to be in the race was a huge thrill.
“It’s not all about the money, it’s the prestige of it, and it’s a huge thrill to be in it.”
Tracey Scruse has just one dog in her kennel and that dog will race for $1 million next Friday night.
Pindari Express stormed into the final with a 29.85s win.
“To get through to this final is like a dream come true,” Tracey said. “The professionals have got lots of dogs, so to just have one and to get to a race like this, to get to any final, in a group race or anything, it’s such an achievement. And he’s done it all for us. He’s been our first track record holder, our first city winner, and our first group winner too. Now he’s our first runner in the world richest race.”
Cult hero Feral Franky is the only dog who many expected to be in the final, who isn’t there. He tumbled on the first turn in his heat, but thankfully pulled up ok.
The Feral’s brother Good Odds Harada is in the final however, winning his heat in 29.66s.
“I actually thought he would have run a bit quicker,” trainer Frank Hurst said. “It was a good win and it’s great to be in the final. It does mean a lot of nerves for the next week.”
Victorian Curt Lee was the victor in Feral Franky’s heat, leading from the first turn and holding off all challengers to win in 30.14s.
“It’s good to see the dog show courage like that,” trainer Glenn Rounds said. “His run was tremendous, gutsy and courageous.”
Fellow Victorian Shima Shine took his record to nine wins from 11 starts with a brilliant 29.60s victory.
“This dog has got the biggest motor you have ever seen,” Trainer Andrea Dailly’s husband Tom said. “He’s not a complete race dog but what he is doing as a young pup it’s just enormous.”
If there was as surprise qualifier it was the Peter Carr-trained Jimmy Casey, who overcame trouble at the first turn to storm home to win in 30.02s.
The box draw for the final is: 1 Get It Gizmo 2 Good Odds Harada 3 Flying Bazza 4 Pindari Express 5 Black Opium 6 Shima Shine 7 Jimmy Casey 8 Curt Lee 9 Perfect Marshall 10 Aston Duke,
