Beef Week Cup Final A Fitting Crescendo For Casino

In 44 starts for Urunga-based trainer Ronny Ulrick, Go Bears has won 15 races from seven different alleys.

When he lines up in the 2023 Casino Beef Week Cup Final on Friday however, he will emerge from the only box he is yet to taste victory out of.

“Our bloke has had a few goes from the four and has never won,” Ulrick said with a laugh.

“And to make matters worse, I think the dogs drawn inside him are going to be the hardest to beat. Rapid Ripple [Box 1] has run 29.87 at Albion Park which is a real good run. Commands Respect [Box 2] was right up there in the Grafton Cup a few weeks back, and Mick Landrigan’s dog [Blazing Bob] in the three goes good too,” Ulrick said.

The bookies echoing Ulrick’s thoughts, with the greyhounds boxed one through four all at single figure quotes to take out the race.

Go Bears is currently the joint second favourite alongside Commands Respect, with Rapid Ripple looming as the dog most likely to claim the $10,000-to-the-winner prizemoney.

“It’s bloody good money in anyone’s books, especially when you’re racing in the bush,” Ulrick said.

“The city slickers might get that every week but its five and a bit hours from my place to Sydney so we don’t go there very often. Casino is one of our closest tracks so it’d mean a lot to win this race,” he added.

The Ulrick family revelling in Go Bears’ success so far in 2023, with a third-placing in January’s G1 National Derby decider behind Victa Damian, as well as a spot in last month’s New Sensation Final already cementing a year to remember. 

“I’ve waited a long time to get a dog as good as Go Bears and lots of people will go their whole lives without having one like him. Competition is pretty tough at the moment all over NSW, lots of good dogs, lot of great trainers, I’m just loving what this fella is doing,” Ulrick said.

“The grandkids will be boxing him on Friday and they usually fight over who gets the collar and lead. Chad is 15 and Holly is 17 and they just both love the dog. Holly just got her drivers license and her first car is a dog van which gave me a real kick too,” he laughed.

Casino Greyhound Racing Club Manager, Donna Pezet, is expecting a big on course contingent on Friday in line with the town’s annual Beef Week celebrations.

“It’s a great time of year for us. It’s like a 10-day event, the town has things like breakfast with the butchers, a beef week queen gets crowned, there are kids all over the place having fun and all sorts of events are going on around the place,” Pezet said.

“The Beef Week Cup meeting for the horses has been cancelled as well so hopefully it means a lot more people will come along to the dogs. Last year we had about 700 people here and it’s just the sort of race trainers around here want to win. It’s one of our biggest races outside the cup and it’s got a bit of prestige about it,” she added.

Outside the four main fancies, Gypsy Joker [Box 6] for Robert Cooke looks the Next best option.

The Woodview-trainer admitting the litter sister to the highly-fancied Cash Master will need to find the front if she’s to spring an upset.

“I think whoever leads early will win the race. I was really pleased with her heat run to tell you the truth. I thought she was very lucky to stay on her feet and because she’s so small, I couldn’t see her at one stage. Next thing I know, she’s popped out in second spot somehow,” Cooke said.

“In terms of the litter, she was nearly last in the pecking order. She didn’t show much at all early on, but then the penny dropped and she started going good. She’d be my best box dog but her legs are a bit short. Either way she’s a bit of a favourite in the kennel, a real happy dog and always wants attention so I hope she runs well,” he added.

While the Barbara Beach-trained Magic Secret [Box 7] may need some luck if one of the locals is to claim the Beef Week crown.

“We’re only about five kilometres out of town and we do most of our racing at Casino so it’s a massive thrill being in this final. It’s going to be hard out of Box 7 to get across them all, but she’s got early pace to be close to the front.” Beach said.

“This is the biggest race I’ve ever been in and she’s the best dog we’ve had for a long time. She puts in 120% every time she goes around and tries her little heart out. There are some very good dogs in the race and my little girl is only a fifth grader so it’s a big challenge for her but I know she’ll try her little heart out,” she added.

The Casino Beef Week Cup will be run over 484m on Friday, May 26.

Integrity Mate won the race in 2022, while Louis Rumble claimed the event the previous year.