Australia’s leading kennel will be launching an all out assault on this year’s Ladbrokes Golden Easter Egg with Team Dailly bringing a 12 greyhounds to contest Saturday’s 10 heats at Wentworth Park.
The Daillys - husband and wife training team of Andrea and Tom - will have a runner in eight of the heats, and two runners in the other two qualifiers.
As expected the event has attracted most of the current sprinting stars including Victorian Aston Rupee, Dailly’s Australian Cup winner Lala Kiwi, as well as all the local standouts such as early series’ favourite She’s A Pearl, 2021 Golden Easter Egg runner-up Wow, and last Saturday’s Stockman & Paddock Country Classic winner Zipping Kyrgios (pictured winning that event at Dubbo last Saturday).
The first three from each of the heats and two fastest fourth placegetters will advance to the semi-finals the following Saturday, with the top two in each of those semis racing for the $250,000 first prize in the final on April 9.
“The main aim with this week is about getting them through to the next week’s semi-finals,” Tom said on Tuesday.
The Daillys’ main hope for the series would Lala Kiwi who, after being an impressive Perth Cup heat winner at Cannington a week earlier, struck trouble in the final from box 4 and was never in contention.
“She’s pulled up fine after Perth, and it was always the plan to head straight to the Easter Egg,” Tom said.
Lala Kiwi - whose only start at Wentworth Park was when she was slow to move and finished fifth behind Where’s Rocky in a heat of the Group 1 Paws Of Thunder back in January - has drawn box 4 again on Saturday and will clash with her kennelmate the speedy Americano Miss who has box 2, Country Classic placegetter Zipping Alabama (box 5) and fellow Victorians Boston Garden (Box 3) and Hadouken (box 7).
“I’d expect Americano Miss to probably get the lead if she comes out the way she normally does, and expect her to be in front of Lala Kiwi,” Tom said. “But if Lala Kiwi she can get a clear run early … she just has to get through in the first three and hopefully she can get through. That’s the main aim this week.”
Dailly said one of their best chances after the box draw is Indy Matilda who has drawn box 1 in the sixth heat. From 10 starts wearing the red rug Indy Matilda has won seven times, and the last time she wore it was in Sydney when leading and finishing second to Jungle Deuce in a heat of the Paws of Thunder at Wentworth Park.
“She loves the red and hasn’t had it for while,” he said.
“Daph’s Ascend (box 8 in heat 3) is going well and ran good time beating Aston Rupee at Sandown last start, and Gypsy Bun (box 5 in heat 8) has been racing well so we’ll just see how they all go.”
Indy Matilda will meet Louis Rumble (box 6) and Queenslander Showdown (box 5) in her heat, Daph’s Ascend will clash with Bandit Ned (box 6) and Jason Thompson’s Equalizer (box 2), while Gypsy Bun – who split Daph’s Ascend and Aston Rupee at Sandown - meets Zipping Kyrgios (box 2), Billy Creek (box 4), and boom South Australian Came And Went (box 3) who has won his past six starts.
Aston Rupee has drawn box 4 in heat 2 and will clash with the likes of Analysing (box 1), and Weblec Jet (box 6).
One of the interesting races will be heat 7 which sees She’s A Pearl (box 8) meet Monday night’s Maitland Gold Cup winner Good Odds Cash (box 6).
The pair will also be up against the likes of Group 1 Dapto Megastar winner Ritza Donna (box 5), Maitland Cup runner-up Our Mechanic (box 2), and Victorians Lala Ivory (box 7) and Aston Merit (box 1).
Wow, last year's runner-up to Tommy Shelby, has drawn box 2 in heat 5 and will clash with Coast Model (box 1), Victorian Devel Sixteen (box 4) who was fourth in last year's Egg final, and National Futurity winner Idolize (box 7).
Fresh from winning the Golden Slipper at Rosehill last Saturday, leading jockey Brenton Avdulla will have Fernando Hunter engaged in the Egg heats this week.
The Michelle Sultana-trained dog has drawn box 4 in the final heat of the night and will clash with Maitland Cup placegetter Zipping Lopez (box 3), and Victorian pair Decimate (box 8) and Gypsy Yankee (box 6).
The kennel will also have the talented Connections in box 8 in heat 4 up against Good Odds Emma (box 1) the Dailly’s Zara Ivan (box 6) and Country Classic runner-up Fantastic Raven (box 5).
