First A Pearl Now A Hotshot After Broken Hill Cup Win

The similarities are there for all to see. Both called She’s A, both capturing feature races, and now both headed for the biggest prize in greyhound racing.

Less than 24 hours after She’s A Pearl was dynamic in taking out the Golden Easter Egg at Wentworth Park, on Sunday night around 1,200kms away at Broken Hill, She’s A Hotshot was carving her own niche   into history.

In winning the for winning the Globe Home Timber & Hardware Broken Hill Cup, the Troy Murray-trained She’s A Hotshot may have collected $240,000 less than She’s A Pearl did on Saturday night, but the prize which went along with both victories was a golden ticket directly into the semi-finals of the TAB Million Dollar Chase on April 29.

So, just like Pearl, Hotshot is headed for Wenty on the last Friday in April where a win will give her a one in eight shot at $1 million on May 7.

One of two runners in the final for South Australian trainer Troy Murray, both owned by former rugby league star Terry Hill, She’s A Hotshot and her kennelmate and track record holder Came And Went battled out favourtism with the latter going to the boxes as the punters’ elect.

But it was She’s A Hotshot who pinged the lids and was a clear leader rounding the first turn from Came And Went and Teddy The Bear.

Heading out of the back, the lead had shrunk with Teddy The Bear charging and on the home turn, with his momentum, you wanted to be on Teddy.

But She’s A Hotshot showed great tenacity and held on in a tight finish, for the Cup, the $10,000 first prize and the all-important ticket to town, winning in 30.41s from Teddy The Bear with Manila Dusk running on for third.

“We didn’t know who would cross (the line) first, but she got the job done, straight to the front and that’s where she does her best work,” said Connor Murray, Troy’s son. “She just had to come out this week and I’m sure the old man is happy.

“Terry (Hill) is a star and we couldn’t thank him enough for giving us the opportunity to train all these dogs for him. He’s a great owner.”

Earlier in the night the other feature races, the BLACK GATE Distillery Local Cup Final went to local star Iceni Riot, while the Sportsbet Richest Outback Maiden went to Break Ranks.

Sportsbet, who came on board as a sponsor not only of the maiden event but also sponsoring the club with an additional $10,000, also made a $5,000 contribution to the local Greyhounds As Pets program. 

The night was a rousing success for the Broken Hill Club which had TAB and Sky Racing coverage of the meeting this week and the heats last week, and Greyhound Racing NSW was also well represented at the meeting with Board members Matt Waring and Kevin Gordon attending, along with Chief Executive Officer Tony Mestrov.

“I do have a strong family affiliation with Broken Hill, my grandmother is from here and my mother was born here,” the CEO said. “We’re proud to have this race here tonight, and it’s fantastic that the winner gets through to the semi-finals of the Million Dollar Chase.

“This is what it’s all about. We’re about the regions. We came out here to show the people that we do support them at Greyhound Racing NSW. 

“And it’s not only their racing. They have a really strong Greyhounds As Pets program out here which is very important to us, so not only do the dogs race here, they rehome them as well.”