The Ladbrokes Bidgee Cup Set For Friday Night Lights
By Simon Orchard
It’s been a wet and wild few weeks for chasers in the State’s south but on Friday night the township of Wagga will be focused on ‘The Bidgee’ for a totally different reason.
The Ladbrokes Bidgee Cup (formerly known as the Wagga Gold Cup) will be run for the first time and the Group 3 event worth $25,000-to-the-winner will be a welcome distraction for a region hit hard by the recent floods.
Wagga-based trainer Mick Finn is looking forward to rugging up Tiggerlong Car in his hometown’s biggest race, especially considering he was knee deep in water seven days ago.
“I actually got flooded last week and we had over a metre of water in my place. I’m still cleaning it all up but it’ll be good to get back to the races for a night out. Tiggerlong Car will be one of the outsiders, but she goes well from Box 8 and she knows the track well. Her first split of 5.20 is pretty quick but it’s a great field and she’ll need a lot of luck to win,” Finn said.
According to early markets, Tiggerlong Car is the rank outsider in a hot field and will need to produce something extraordinary to give Finn his first ever Cup win.
“I think I’ve come second three or four times over the years but we weren’t getting the same amount of city class dogs then. I’ve won Group 1 races [with Tiggerlong Tonk] but to win your own Cup would be a big thing,” Finn said.
Fellow finalist Vayda Bale is no stranger to the Wagga winner’s circle – with the Victorian chaser taking out the last Wagga Gold Cup back in June.
The defending champion will jump from Box 4 in the final, with kennelmate and June runner up Xavien Bale also in the field in Box 7.
The duo is prepared by Correy and Samantha Grenfell, with Correy delivering an ominous warning to their rivals ahead of Friday night.
“Vayda Bale is the bet out of our pair, she loves the track and I think she’ll improve four or five lengths this week because she was a little underdone last start. She had some time off with injury and only had two short runs leading into the heat so we’re expecting a big run tomorrow,” Corey Grenfell said.
“She still broke her own first section record though and she’s a faultless beginner so she should be in front and it’ll take a good dog to catch her. Her box speed is her best quality and she should be a bit in front of them with even luck,” he said.
The Grenfell’s affinity with Wagga ironically built off the back of a very successful relationship with one of the trainers they’ll be trying to beat in ‘The Bidgee’ – Mick Finn.
“Mick [Finn] is from there and we’ve had a really close connection with him over the years with all of Tiggerlong Tonk’s success. All the ‘Tiggerlongs’ are pre-trained at Wagga so we always went back there because it was like their home track. Every dog we take up just thrives and we always seem to have a bit of a home track advantage,” Grenfell said.
Ashley Dwyer also has a strong hand in the decider with his litter brothers Special Blend and Charlie’s Jar jumping from Boxes 2 and 3 respectively.
Special Blend may be the current race favourite after qualifying fastest for the final in a time of 30.15, but Dwyer admits Vayda Bale is a serious threat.
“Box 2 is nearly perfect for him [Special Blend] but it depends on what Vayda Bale does early on. Wagga tends to favour the inside in my mind so that’ll help but he needs to be up and running ahead of Vayda Bale to win. If he can’t lead her at the first turn, I don’t think he can beat her,” Dwyer said.
The race holding extra significance for Special Blend with some elusive ‘black type’ accolades up for grabs.
“Group racing is great for the breed and he’s been in eight group finals but hasn’t won one yet. It’s prestigious and it can help with a potential stud career down the track. I’m also a country boy so taking out a country cup would be nice,” Dwyer said.
Brian Smith is the only other local trainer in the feature and he will rug up Tom’s Express (Box 6) while Sutton Forest-based Mick Clayton completes the field with his two runners Start Packing (Box 1) and Aqua Tiger (Box 5).
The 11-race card kicks off at Wagga at 7:22pm on Friday night with the Ladbrokes Bidgee Cup Final (525m) set down as Race 8 and jumping at 9:42pm.
The Wagga Marathon (760m) will go off in Race 5, the Wagga 400 Final is Race 9 on the card and The Bidgee Brisk Final (320m) is Race 10 on the program.
