Husband and wife team of John and Minnie Finn will have three of the eight runners in next week’s TAB Million Dollar Chase Grand Final after qualifying all three of their semi-finalists at Wentworth Park on Friday night.
On a night filled with stories from each of the cut-throat semi-finals where only the winners advanced, the $1 million final on September 24 will have seven NSW trained greyhounds, three from the Finns, a 19-year-old trainer with a representative, the sole interstate dog, originally from Tasmania and now trained in Victoria, two-time Million Dollar Chase winner Peter Lagogiane having a shot at another million, one of his good mates also qualifying a runner, and a dog who was sent to NSW from South Australia for the National Straight Track Championships.
The Finns qualified Zipping Alabama, Gatlin, and Minnie’s favourite, Zipping Kyrgios who may be having his farewell start in the $1 million event.
“Oh, he's just such a beautiful dog,” said Minnie. “He loves the attention from the first day we got him.
“It would be perfect way to go out for sure, it would be a fairytale, but we’ll see.
“We've had some really good dogs and some have and they have won a lot of prizemoney but he just … he's just one of those special dogs. He’s just so beautiful in the kennel.
“It’s just amazing to have got three into the final. It's very hard to believe, it’s hard enough to get one in, so to get three, I might not sleep tonight.”
Back in 2018 the Lagogianes won the inaugural Million Dollar Chase with Mystic Riot who led all the way from box 7. In 2020 they won again with Handsome Prince, again leading all the way from box 7.
And guess what? Lagogiane’s 2022 Million Dollar Chase grand finalist French Martini – who was brilliant winning from box 1 after being skittled on the first turn – has drawn box 7 in the big event.
“They told me lightning doesn’t strike twice and we proved that wrong. Let's hope we can prove that it can strike three times.
“She showed her tenacity tonight. She just showed what she can do. She Chased … that's all she does.
“Beast Unleashed was the best I've ever had, and she's the female version of him. That says it all. She’s a little beauty.”
One of the surprises of the night was the win of Agland Luai, for 19-year-old trainer Jay Opetaia.
“It's unbelievable. I thought he would be a chance he just needed to jump. It's a bit surreal,” said Opetatia
“It's unbelievable. He's a terrific dog. It would be absolutely life changing (to win next week). The family back home (in ORANGE) will be over the moon.”
After He’s On Fire was sent to Sydney to compete in the National Straight Track Championship at Richmond, Allan Manwaring and owner Tim Richards decided to have a crack at the Million Dollar Chase, and a week after being run down by champion bitch She’s A Pearl, he wasn’t caught on Friday night, winning his semi and booking a berth in the big race next week.
“I never thought I'd be in this spot, but this is just a great, what a great opportunity,” said Allan’s wife Elle. “We’re really thankful to the owner Tim in South Australia. If it wasn't for him sending us this dog, we wouldn't be in this spot.
“This is just amazing. It means all hard work has paid off. You know, it's six o'clock starts and 10 o'clock at night getting dogs up, and it's just it's very rewarding.”
While He’s On Fire was out in front out of trouble, defending champion She’s A Pearl was finding trouble back in the field and her hopes of another Million Dollar Chase grand final were gone well before the finish.
The sole interstate runner – who was also the final runner into the grand final – was Victorian-trained Tasmanian, McInerney for trainer Brendan Pursell.
“I saw the back of the boxes move and I thought oh no he's going to miss it again,” Pursell said. McInerney wasn’t the best out but he showed his speed to the first corner and put himself into a winning position early.
“He's very quick and he's getting stronger. It's just a shame he got this pattern of wanting to get out wide, if he didn't do that … he just a super dog.”
The other finalist is Joe Comito’s Hold Me Up who led throughout from box 5 to win his semi.
“I just can’t believe it. We weren’t confident from box 5 tonight, I thought we needed the inside, but when he got to the front I thought we had a chance,” Comito said.
