He may be a handy straight track sprinter, but perhaps the best trait Stadiums has is that he is a good listener.
The Stephen Davies-trained greyhound scored an upset win in the NSW Straight Track Championship Final at Richmond on Thursday and will now head to Murray Bridge in South Australia to represent NSW in the National Straight Track Championship in two weeks’ time.
Starting from box 8, Stadiums was away fairly and took advantage of the clear air up the middle of the track, working his way to the lead and despite being checked halfway up the straight, he was able to hold off the fast-finishing favourite Express Ethics. The runner-up - who was slowly away - will also head to South Australia to represent NSW.
“I'm just so proud of him,” part owner Sherril Blanch said. “I honestly just thought, OK he's going run his best today and whatever happens, happens. And I told him: “Just go straight mate, let them bunch up in the middle, we'll stick to the outside”, and that's what he did.”
The win was Stadiums’ seventh up the Richmond Straight, a track he has taken a liking to since Davies targeted the venue earlier this year. Prior to that he had been racing over longer trips and even tried middle-distance racing.
“He likes his track. He handles a circle (track) but he just lost all confidence, so we started to bring him down to the straight and he just excelled. He's such a big gangly, big dog so it suited him here and we kept bringing him down and he's gone through his grades really well down here.
“They all say he needs the inside (draw) but he just needs clear running and he runs straight until he gets clear. So the eight (box) probably suited him today because he got no interference early so he could really stretch out.
“We bred the litter so we've had him from the start and he was a bit awkward early, but he's really going great now.
“It's a long way to go to South Australia and he's never been on the arm before because I think it's on the arm, not a drag lure. It's a big step and a big thing, but we put him in the series to win it, so hopefully, we do good.”
The National Final will be held over the 350m at Murray Bridge on August 24 and the extra 26m of that trip compared to the Richmond Straight will suit his dog according to Davies.
“The extra distance will suit. He just starts to wind up over the 324m here at Richmond.”
