Blue Moon Rising will go out an odds-on favourite for the $100,000 to the winner 720m Sydney Cup after qualifying in easily the fastest time and drawing ideally in box one in Friday night's 720m Group final at Wentworth Park.
Blue Moon Rising won his heat by seven lengths in 41.65s, with last Friday's other heats taken out by Victoria's Boom Down in 42.07s and outsider Dublin Lad in 42.16s.
With his siblings Poco Dorado and Veloce Nero sidelined, it was left to Blue Moon Rising to carry the banner of the phenomenal Fernando Bale-Chica Destacada litter in Friday's heats and he stepped up in the finest possible way, posting easily his best WP time.
After trailing pacemaker Rockstar Prince in the early stages, Blue Moon Rising took the lead on the back straight and careered away to defeat the Luke Azzopardi-trained Mrs Emgrand and up-and-coming youngster Just Terms in figures which compared well with Tornado Tears' 41.38s track record.
Blue Moon Rising's trainer John Finn, recovering from a stroke, watched the race from his hospital bed.
Wife Melinda, who has been deputising as trainer throughout her husband's lengthy hospitalisation, said: "Apparently John had tears in his eyes when he saw how well Blue Moon Rising went.
"Actually I disobeyed his instructions slightly in the lead-up to the Sydney Cup heats.
"When John went into hospital he told me that if I had a stayer in a 720m race on a Saturday night, I was to give to the dog a hit-out over 618m at Richmond on the Tuesday prior.
"Because there was no 720m race for Blue Moon Rising at Wenty on Saturday, October 5, he had to go around in a 520m event.
"He finished third but because the Cup heats were on a Friday, 24 hours earlier than normal, I kept the dog on the lead coming into tonight's race,'' Finn admitted after Blue Moon Rising's slashing win.
Before the final box draw Melinda Finn quipped that the ideal scenario would be for Blue Moon Rising to get box one, with notoriously slow starter Boom Down in two.
Her wish was virtually granted as Blue Moon Rising will wear the red rug in the final, with Boom Down in three and She Will Bloom, another greyhound not renowned for her early pace, in box two.
Mrs Emgrand, despite being a distant second in Blue Moon Rising's heat, could prove the one to beat.
"She has box six and she likes being drawn out wide,'' trainer Luke Azzopardi said of Mrs Emgrand.
"After she led all the way to beat Just Terms at Wentworth Park on September 28, I trialled her there on a Tuesday night and the lure came off the carriage.
"Mrs Emgrand could manage only sixth place at her next start at WP on October 5 but I think the lure mishap had played tricks with her mind that night, because she was back in form in the Cup heat.''
Biggest upset in the Sydney Cup heats was the impressive win by $81 outsider Dublin Lad, trained by veteran central coast trainer Barry Howell.
Having only his fifth start, Dublin Lad came from second in the middle stages to lead turning for home before holding off She Will Bloom by a length.
Boom Down, from the all-conquering Andrea Dailly team, relished box one and the small field of five, coming from last to win his heat by five lengths from Blazing Cartier.
Box draw for Friday's Sydney Cup is 1 Blue Moon Rising 2 She Will Bloom 3 Boom Down 4 Dublin Lad 5 Just Terms 6 Mrs Emgrand 7 Blazing Cartier 8 Radar Gunn with reserves Sweet Fire All and Ebby Ripper.
