Ticked it off. That was how Kel Greenough described the box-to-box trial of his flying bitch Wow She’s Fast at Wentworth Park on Tuesday night.
Greenough and his wife Jackie made a late decision this week to bring the Phoenix winner to Sydney for a shot at the TAB Million Dollar Chase. She will be drawn in Saturday’s City Qualifiers which will be released on Wednesday morning.
But having brought dogs to Sydney before Kel knew he wanted to give Wow She’s Fast a look at Wentworth Park and more particularly the different starting boxes they have compared with the ones she is used to in Victoria.
“Yeah that was the main thing I needed to tick off as far as that goes. Different boxes, different lure systems and a really noisy lure compared with what we have got,” he said.
“She went 5.41s, I think 13.88s, and 17.84s, but the 5.41s was the important one.
“If they stumble out and run a 5.65s you think geez I’m in trouble here, then you hope they get it right the next time.
“The fact was they both got it right (he also brought Levitation to trial as well) the first time, that’s what we needed to do and we ticked it off.
“It was a big trip for them a 10½ hour drive during the day which they have never done. The furthest I have gone with them was a 1½ hour trip. The fact is they have gone through it, they have done it, the track probably wasn’t 100 percent, so that’s pleasing first-up.
“The main thing was coming out of the boxes and handling that first split and the track was easy to handle, there were no problems at all there.”
The reason for the late decision after Wow She’s Fast won the Launching Pad at Sandown last Thursday, was due to Kel’s health. He had a health scare a few weeks ago, which Jackie thought may have been a stroke. It thankfully turned out to be Bell’s Palsy and with medication and rest he is now feeling fine and decided to make the trip to Sydney. He and the greyhounds will stay in town until after Saturday’s qualifiers.
Should the Wow She’s Fast and/or Levitation make the semi-finals the following Friday, he will head home and return the day before the races.
But as Kel said, with so much money on offer, “you’ve just got to have a crack at them.”
“There’s so much money on offer in Sydney at the moment, you’ve got two million dollar races,” he said. “It’s ridiculous at the moment.
“Greyhound racing used to be the poor man’s sport, now we’re running for millions of dollars. It’s quiet exciting for all the participants.
“I can’t believe you are absolutely smashing Victoria at the minute. It’s a fact.”
Five qualifiers will be run on Saturday night with those successful joining the invitees and the 42 dogs which have qualified through the 14 Regional Final around the State over the past three weeks in the April 29 semi-finals.
