Thrilling Thunderbolt Final Awaits - Full Race Preview
By Simon Orchard
A new name will be etched onto The GRNSW Thunderbolt trophy on Saturday night as eight runners descend on Grafton for the running of the $75,000-to-the-winner series finale.
Current race favourite Vamoose looms as the dog to beat after the box draw, with the six-time winner over the Grafton 350m drawing perfectly in Box 2. Alongside him in Box 1 is kennelmate Johnny Red, with the John Miles-prepared chaser qualifying fastest from the semi-finals in a time of 19.89. While local hope Rushforth Ally also looms as a decent each way prospect, having won 11 times at the venue with a best time of 19.79.
Grafton Greyhound Racing Club President, John Corrigan, believes it could be one of the best short course fields ever assembled and is backing a local to take the race out.
“We’ve been really lucky to get a field of sprinters this good for this final. I’d love to see Rushforth Ally win it for Des Winters and Bob McMurray and I don’t think they’re without a chance. He’s [Rushforth Ally] won six of his last eight starts at Grafton and he has run 19.79, the same time as Vamoose,” Corrigan said.
Corrigan also blown away by the success of The Thunderbolt in its second year.
“We had four good heats at Grafton but we could have run five to be honest. We had 52 nominations for the heats just up here which goes to show people really appreciate the opportunity to race for good prize money over the short trip,” Corrigan said.
“We’re really grateful to GRNSW for letting us host this race and we hope we can do them proud. We’ve sold 1500 tickets to the event, we’ve exhausted the allocation, and we’ll have some great local talent in Brooke McClymont and Adam Eckersley performing live for everyone at the track as well,” he added.
Trainer Rob Andrews hugs inaugural Thunderbolt winner Integrity Mate
Integrity Mate took out the inaugural running of the event in 2022 in thrilling fashion, nailing Orson Laurie right on the peg in a time of 19.77.
The final margin was 0.03 lengths to hand Northern Rivers trainer Rob Andrews a memorable race victory.
The 2023 GRNSW Thunderbolt will be held on Saturday, June 24 at the Grafton Greyhound Racing Club. The feature event will be Race 8 on the program at 7:07pm.
Track and Trip Record: 1: 1-0-0 Career Box 1 Record: 4: 2-2-0 Grafton 350m PB: 19.89 (June 18, 2023) Best Grafton 350m First Section Time: 4.02 Biggest Danger: Cash Destroyer
What The Trainer Said: “He ran the fastest time in the semi-finals, he’s a very good beginner and he rails, so if that all happens, he’s got a very good chance. That was his first look at Grafton so it was a huge run but the Richmond track does have the same type of lure now so that helped prepare him. If I had to lean to one between him and Vamoose, I’d have to say Johnny Red because he rails much better than Vamoose. I think Vamoose is really keen so he will follow the flight path of the lure whereas a smart dog like Johnny Red will just take the shortest way home. Both he and Vamoose are good box dogs but having them go next to one another, I’m not sure about that to be honest. Box 1 and 8 would have been ideal but we’ll take 1 and 2.
Track and Trip Record: 8: 6-0-1 Career Box 2 Record: 4: 2-1-1 Grafton 350m PB: 19.79 (June 11, 2023) Best Grafton 350m First Section Time: 3.99 Biggest Danger: Johnny Red or Cash Destroyer
What The Trainer Said: “He’s a true chasing dog and I couldn’t be more excited for the Thunderbolt final. We’ve been planning this for months after Mark Maroney said to me earlier in the piece “they need to see the track because it’s different up there”. I took his advice and we started sending him up there and it took him three or four starts to hit the mark and nail the lure and now it’s paying off. Vamoose comes a bit wide around the corner so if Johnny Red jumps well, Vamoose could hand him the race. But I have been committed to the Thunderbolt for a while and win, lose or draw, we’ve got the dog to where we want him to be.
Track and Trip Record: 1: 0-1-0 Career Box 3 Record: 2: 0-0-0 Grafton 350m PB: 20.31 (June 18, 2023) Best Grafton 350m First Section Time: 4.08 Biggest Danger: Vamoose
What The Trainer Said: “The box draw is probably the third best for him and Johnny Red and Vamoose will be hard to beat, especially Vamoose as he knows the track so well. There is a fair bit of speed in the race and I think after the first ten yards, whoever is leading will be hard to beat. But there are no morals in 300m racing and sometimes the best dog doesn’t win this type of race. Return Mac has had a great week and I’d love to have a kennel of dogs like him. He has to jump to win though, and if he does, I don’t see why he can’t run 19.7 or 19.8. He’s the quickest dog we’ve had, he has the 400m track record at Dubbo and I don’t see why he can’t improve after his first look last week. I’m absolutely thrilled to be in the final, the hype of the race has been great, and I’d love to win it.”
Track and Trip Record: 18: 9-4-1 Career Box 4 Record: 0: 0-0-0 Grafton 350m PB: 19.79 (November 13, 2022) Best Grafton 350m First Section Time: 4.00 Biggest Danger: Johnny Red
What The Trainer Said: “I don’t think he can come out as bad as he did in the heats. He usually begins really good so I hope he jumps and gets a clean run. He’s run 19.79 so hopefully he can produce that again but usually finals don’t go as quick because they’re all pretty even, so we need to jump in front. Johnny Red began beautifully in the heats off the six so I think he’ll be really hard to beat now he’s drawn Box 1.”
Track and Trip Record: 2: 0-2-0 Career Box 5 Record: 1: 0-0-1 Grafton 350m PB: 20.18 (June 11, 2023) Best Grafton 350m First Section Time: 4.07 Biggest Danger: Vamoose
What The Trainer Said: “He began better than he did last week and even though he got stopped at the point of the turn, it was a good run to come from behind. We came over for the Flying Amy with two of the brothers in the litter and he ran second in a heat so didn’t go through. We looked around and The Thunderbolt was on so we had a crack it and here we are. The litter has a fair bit of ability and he should be used to the box, he’s had four and six so far in two runs at Grafton so being in between in Box 5 won’t hurt. Any race is good to pinch but when there’s good prizemoney it's even better.”
Track and Trip Record: 8: 7-1-0 Career Box 6 Record: 2: 1-0-0 Grafton 350m PB: 19.91 (August 14, 2022) Best Grafton 350m First Section Time: 4.00 Biggest Danger: Vamoose
What The Trainer Said: “She’s going alright and she’s better off out wide so I’d rather Box 6 than the inside. The dog outside [Speeding FINE] will be coming down quick but she’ll be going up the track fast too so we’ll see what happens. I think whoever is going to win the race will lead from start to finish. If Johnny Red or Vamoose jump in front, nothing can catch them over that distance. It’s to hard to run those type of dogs down over 350m. Even Rushforth Ally, he came out terribly last week but that’s not him. He’s pretty consistent and he can go much better.”
Track and Trip Record: 1: 1-0-0 Career Box 7 Record: 2: 2-0-0 Grafton 350m PB: 20.25 (June 18, 2023) Best Grafton 350m First Section Time: 4.04 Biggest Danger: Johnny Red
What The Trainer Said: “I think the run was a bit on the steady side. I thought he would go a bit quicker but in all fairness, he’s never been far away from home. I’m hoping he will improve because if he runs up to last week’s race, he can’t win. It’s not an ideal draw because he wants to come to the fence but if he can come out like he’s done at Richmond, he’s capable of leading. Johnny Miles’ dog went around at Richmond the same night as Speeding FINE and we went a bit quicker so we’ll see. Speeding FINE is out of his comfort zone but we’re in it, so we can win it. If Johnny-red">Johnny Red comes out like he did the other day, he’ll be hard to toss.”
Track and Trip Record: 2: 1-0-1 Career Box 8 Record: 3: 2-1-0 Grafton 350m PB: 19.92 (June 18, 2023) Best Grafton 350m First Section Time: 4.00 Biggest Danger: Cash Destroyer
What The Trainer Said: “I think he’s perfectly boxed. I don’t think he’ll get touched out there and if any of the good dogs on the inside get tangled up, he could pinch a break. He had the quickest first and section in the semi-finals so he’s right in it. Speeding FINE is in Box 7 and he will head for the fence which will help too. Cash Destroyers record at the track is impeccable so she looks hard to beat. But it’s a final, every dog deserves to be there and it’s about who will get the luck in running on the night.”
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