Wow! It was the word everyone uttered after the second heat of the Group 2 Richmond Derby on Friday night, but this time it wasn’t about the dog who carries the name.
Dual Group 1 winner Wow was supposed to be the talk of the town, having his first hit out at Richmond in the Derby heats, but it was the dog he chased around the Londonderry circuit who had onlookers gasping.
Avalanche, a former Victorian now trained by Hunter Valley mentor Jason Mackay, was simply stunning, leading throughout, staving off Wow, and stopping the clock at a staggeringly fast, 30.07s.
The figures stunned even the most seasoned Richmond racegoer, who shook their heads in disbelief.
To add context, the track record stands at 29.90s, set by Mackay’s flying machine Punch One Out way back in April 2013.
Take nothing away from the performance of Wow, finishing second 3¼ lengths away at his first look around the Richmond track, but the winner was the one everyone wanted to talk about.
“Yeah wow. I had to walk up there (to the semaphore board) to see what it was - 30.07s … pretty impressive,” Jason’s daughter April said.
“He’s been with us for four months. He’s had lot of problems and patience was the key to it, and we worked out the problems, we’ve helped him and he’s come out and done this tonight.
“We trialled him here on Tuesday and he flew, but we weren’t sure about putting him in because he’s not actually fit enough for it, but we did and he came up with the one and he’ll be better for it next week.”
Wow would have won most races at Richmond with his 30.30s performance, and trainer Karina Britton was far from disappointed.
“That was a great run for first look at the track,” she said. “He might have got knocked coming out of the boxes, but that’s racing and the winner was just too good.
“I think he’ll be much better for the run next week for sure.”
Christmas Gift winner Incapacitated showed his strength in running down Royal Emgrand to win his heat of the Derby.
Incapacitated has been racing over middle distances and even ventured to Melbourne to run in the Group 1 Rookie Rebel, before last start winning a 600m race at Bulli on Cup night last Saturday.
“Richmond is a tough 500m, so it’s easier to drop back to the 535m here,” trainer Tess Simmons said.
“I thought when he was sitting behind (Royal Emgrand) coming up the back, that he was a big chance, and he did well to finish it off strongly.”
Incapacitated clocked 30.56s, well adrift of Avalanche’s time, but he does have that strength on his side and that could be crucial in next week’s final.
Queensland trainer Gerard Bowe decided to send his dog It’s A Rush to NSW when he realised the FFA dog would be eligible for a fifth grade at Wentworth Park.
He sent the dog to NSW trainer Michael Hodges who won that Wentworth Park fifth grade which happened to be a prelude of the Ladbrokes Golden Easter Egg.
A city win and a ticket into the Easter Egg heats, was followed by another win at Wentworth Park, then when it popped up on the calendar, Bowe decided to leave the dog in NSW and have a shot at the heats of the Richmond Derby.
It paid dividends and his impressive 30.63s victory, booked a berth in next Friday’s final.
