Month: May 2020

Black Opium is aiming to reach her seventh group 1 final when she lines up in a heat of the Sapphire Crown at Sandown Park tonight. A three time group 1 runner up, Black Opium was back to her superlative best last Thursday night with a faultless eight length victory in 29.33. Her winning time was more than five lengths faster than any other winner on the night, a performance all the more impressive given the wintry conditions. Her first split was the fastest she had run at Sandown Park…

Midnight Monarch is a ‘social outcast’ to the other greyhounds at Sale trainer Chris Tilley’s property. But the racetrack is where he’s interested in winning the ‘popularity stakes’. “He’s a bit of an outsider here, as the other greyhounds are all littermates and have grown up together,” Tilley, 73, said. With New South Wales greyhound racing moving to a regional model and its city track Wentworth Park temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Midnight Monarch was transferred to Victoria. He was initially targeted for the Bendigo Gold Rush Maiden…

Black Opium appears primed to land her first Group 1 in next Thursday Sapphire Crown Final (515m) following a dominant heat win tonight at Sandown Park. The three-time runner-up at Group 1 level, Jason Thompson’s speedster clocked a personal best 29.20sec this evening. The first two placegetters in each qualified for Thursday’s final. In another highlight at Sandown this evening, Mister Harlewood won the first of the $15,000 Gr8 Eight events to be run throughout May and June and stretched his winning streak to four since stepping up to staying…

A brand new greyhound radio show titled ‘The Lids Fly’ will hit the airwaves tonight on SEN Track (1377 AM). Tune in from 6-10pm as Jack Heverin and GRV’s Molly Haines bring you all the action from Sandown Park. Tonight’s card kicks off at 6.04pm and includes four heats of the Group 1 Sapphire Crown (515m) for female greyhounds. Click HERE  to listen to SEN Track

Anakie greyhound trainer Matt Lanigan has come along way since he made the move from Swan Hill to chase his dreams of becoming a full-time greyhound trainer. 16 months has passed and in the that time the 27-year-old has found himself caring for 58 greyhounds and competing week in week out against some of the best greyhounds and trainers. He has also picked up an elusive Group 1 victory in the Sale Cup on Boxing Day last year. Thursday night will see Matt tackle another Group 1 feature, this time…

Talented duo Lucy’s Milo and Halberd Bale are drawn side by side in boxes one and two respectively in Race 8 at The Meadows tonight at 8.58pm. Both greyhounds are prepared by Andrea Dailly, who believes that her best chance will come with the greyhound on the inside. “Lucy’s Milo loves the red box and is racing really high on confidence at the moment which comes into play with this greyhound,” Dailly said. Lucy’s Milo has won his past two starts against quality opposition over 600m at The Meadows, and…

An unexpected bonus for participants and the Bendigo club as traditional Easter feature races, the Gold Rush Maiden and Stayers Cup return to the program as well as the 2020 Bendigo Cup reaching club record stakes in July. The uncertainty around potential COVID-19 restrictions and calendar changes resulted in the postponement of the rich Gold Rush Carnival feature races at Easter but with greyhound racing in Victoria surging ahead the BGRA has rescheduled the $10,000-to-the-winner maiden series and $12,000 to the winner staying event. “The BGRA prides itself on being…

Exciting staying prospect Mister Harlewood has taken out the first Gr8 Eight event, and in doing so stretched his unbeaten run as a stayer to four. The Jeff Britton-trained greyhound was challenged on the home turn before responding in impressive fashion, eventually scoring by 1.5L over Blazing Cartier and Here’s Tears in 41.66sec. Mister Harlewood is the favourite at $4.40 to win the RSN Sandown Cup (715m), the heats of which will be run on Thursday 21 May with the final one week later. RELATED: RSN SANDOWN CUP PRE-NOMS MARKET…