Good Odds Harada is poised to step past Dyna Double One and move into third place on the all-time prizemoney earners in the sport in next Thursday’s Beteasy Megastar Final at Dapto.
A stunning heat win in 29.64s has the TAB Million Dollar Chase winner primed for his maiden Group 1 success at Dapto next week, and a win in the event and the $75,000 prizemoney, would take Good Odds Harada career earnings to $1,223,235, beyond the $1,160,116 of Dyna Double One.
Leading the list of prizemoney winners in greyhound racing are Fanta Bale with $1,365,175, and Fernando Bale with $1,299,370.
Good Odds Harada stormed out of the boxes and matched strides with the quick Regal Twist to the first turn, where he slipped up a gear and was off and gone, leading by a dozen lengths up the back, and comfortably holding off the fast finishing Million Dollar Chase grand finalist Jimmy Casey who also gets a place in the Group 1 decider.
Trainer Frank Hurst candidly admitted after the race he was concerned about how his star would perform at Dapto after a recent campaign in Melbourne where Good Odds Harada was continually in trouble during his races.
“It’s a relief mate,” Hurst said. “I was a little bit concerned about him going into the race. It’s hard to know if you’ve still got them.
“In Melbourne he never had a chance. He kept drawing off the track and every time he raced he got in trouble on the first turn.
“You don’t know how its affected them getting knocked around all the time, checked here and there and then with all the travelling … you just don’t know.
“That’s why it was a relief tonight. We love the dog. I don’t want to bust his guts. I don’t want to race him if it’s going to harm him.
“It’s always in the back of your mind are you going too far. But we own him so we only have to please him and ourselves, there’s no owners to worry about, so its easy to make the decisions with him. We could put him out tomorrow for three weeks if we thought he needs it.
“But it’s good to see him back to that form tonight.”
While he was impressive, so too was Lightning VISION who actually clocked the fastest time of the heats, 29.63s, just 0.01s better than Hurst’s dog.
Lightning VISION’s, only previous Dapto start was in the heats of the Million Dollar Chase, where he was badly checked and put out of the race early.
Trainer Neil Staines admitted he was a little anxious as the field hit the first turn on Thursday night.
“I lost sight of him actually,” Staines said. “I knew he’d come out of the first turn all right, but I didn’t pick him up until halfway up the (back) straight, just as he was getting to the lead.
“If he can get out and get a sit straight behind the leaders, he’ll be in it right up to his neck next week.”
Also qualifying for the final was 2018 MDC runner-up Jamella Jet, who despite having no luck early in his first start at Dapto, managed to storm home and grab second and secure a berth in the final.
An impressive front-running display in the opening heat saw the Peter Lagogiane-trained Double Back score a 29.78s victory.
Lagogiane has always had a big opinion of Double Back who won the regional final of the Million Dollar Chase, and the performance on Thursday night once again showed that opinion is vindicated.
Double Back was only having his second look at Dapto, after having his first race at the track last week, finishing second to Fabrelass in 29.84s.
Spookie VISION battled on well to finish second and book a spot in the final.
“We have always had a fair opinion of him,” Lagogiane said. “He’s a little bit enigmatic. He has got the motor, it’s just about putting it together and if he gets it right at box rise, he can run sections, as we saw tonight.
“He’s going to get stronger with racing, that’s only his second 500m in nine weeks. We are pretty proud of him tonight.
“Lightning VISION was very impressive in the last 100m he just picked them up and left them standing, and a 12.45s run home you don’t often see that here at Dapto.”
It was six years ago that Victoria trainer Keith Hellmuth came to Dapto with his sprinter Peter Rocket, and they left Group 1 winners after winning the 2013 Megastar.
Keith was back on Thursday night, and took his first step towards doing it all over again, when Start A Riot took out his heat of the 2019 edition.
Clocking 29.89s in his heat win, Start A Riot charged home late to book a berth in the final, defeating JODIE Lord’s Electric Silk which will also be a starter in the final.
The box draw for the final was conducted later in the night and it is: 1 Jamella Jet 2 Jimmy Casey 3 VISION">Spookie VISION">VISION 4 Good Odds Harada 5 Electric Silk 6 Start A Riot 7 Lightning VISION 8 Double Back.
