Tracks at opposite ends of the state were lit up across the weekend as a Victorian superstar and a NSW gun won their respective regional finals of the Ladbrokes Million Dollar Chase (MDC).
In Wagga on Friday night, the Dan Gibbons-trained Kelsey Bale produced a scintillating finish to overpower fellow Victorian Dundee Smokey and run her way into a second successive semi-final of the world’s richest greyhound series.
The 14-time Group finalist stopped the clock in 29.90 and put 3.75 lengths on the runner-up, while Hector Fawley finished third to make it a Southern trifecta.
“I was a bit worried with Box 8 there because it can be hard to get to the front, but she jumped really well and drove her way into a good position on the first corner. From there I knew she was going to run Dundee Smokey down because she did it the week before in the heats,” Gibbons said.
The 34-year-old now setting his sights on semi-final success on October 6 at Wentworth Park.
“I’ll give her an easy trial at Warnambool or Ballarat over 450m and keep her fresh for Wenty now. She’s been there a few times and even though she’s an amazing traveller, we don’t want to have to go back and forth three weeks in a row,” Gibbons said.
“I don’t think the box draw really matters as much for her either. If she’s in second or third position with clear air going around the first turn I think she can run anything down. I’d actually rather her not lead as she seems to burn out a lot when she finds the front.”
The daughter of Feral Franky closing in on $500,000 in career prizemoney with Gibbons glowing in his praise of the kennel “superstar”.
“We knew from the second trial that she was something special. If you’re going 17.50 at Geelong, you’re going well, but she was breaking 17 seconds,” Gibbon added.
“And she’s always been in and around the big finals. I was bloody spewing she didn’t win Greyhound Of The Year because she was in more group finals than Wow She’s Fast had races. She’s the only dog ever to win three successive country cups in three weeks. She’s just a star.”
Speaking of stars, Cash Master flew around the spacious Grafton circuit on Sunday night to book his ticket to the MDC semi-finals at Wentworth Park.
The 18-time winner making a mess of his rivals in a near track record performance of 25.06, beating home fellow qualifiers Albert’s Memory and Villante.
“All he had to do was come out to be competitive and he probably came out better than he ever has last night,” trainer Robert Cooke said.
“His run to the corner was what they call airborne. They rarely break nine seconds to the first mark at Grafton and he went 8.87. That won him the race and he’s in good form.”
The Group 3 Grafton Cup winner preparing to head back to Sydney for the first time since finishing down the track behind Custard Monelli in a heat of the 2023 Golden Easter Egg.
“I thought he was going to win that race too but he ran straight up the back of the leader and cost himself any chance,” Cooke said.
“The travelling down there takes a bit out of them so I’m on the fence with what to do. He’s had two runs at Wenty Park, a trial and a race, but if he comes out like he did last night [at Grafton], he’ll be fine. I think he’s a million-dollar dog, but there’s probably a few people thinking that right now,” Cooke laughed.
Nowra (Monday) and Gosford (Tuesday) will be the last two venues to hold MDC regional finals, with the city qualifiers at Wentworth Park on Saturday night the final chance for greyhounds to qualify for the semi-finals.
Eight semi-finals of the 2023 Ladbrokes Million Dollar Chase will be held at Wentworth Park on October 6 with the winner from each advancing to the grand final on October 13.
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