The catch-me-if-you-can tactics of Catch The Thief were on show in tonight’s Group 3 Warragul St Leger Final.
The $25,000 to-the-winner feature was built as a race in two between emerging superstars Catch The Thief and Zambora Smokey.
Both greyhounds had already tasted group success and enjoyed winning streaks of 7 and 8 respectively during their relatively brief careers.
However, when Zambora Smokey bombed the start it was Matt Clark’s superstar from the small Gippsland town of Briagolong that emerged victorious over the highly promising Weblec Jet (Jeff Britton) and Zipping Sullivan (Deb Coleman).
It was Catch The Thief’s first group win on home soil, having notched two feature race victories in Perth, while he took his record to 15 wins from 25 starts.
The $25,000 first prize took his career earnings up to $127,000.
WATCH: Catch The Thief (2) exploded straight to the lead and was never headed in the St Leger Final.
Two other features were run on the night, with Motor City Tiger producing a last-to-first win in the Presidents Cup (1-6 wins) for trainer Geoff Scott-Smith.
Slingshot Titan won the Simon Benson Memorial for Deb Coleman, beating a hot field to notch his 20th win from just 36 starts.
It was the fourth running of the Simon Benson Memorial, named after a vibrant young man who passed away under tragic circumstances in 2016 at just 30 years of age.
WATCH: Motor City Tiger (3) was shuffled back to last before scoring a dominant win in the Presidents Cup (680m).
WATCH: Slingshot Titan (6) shows tremendous mid-race speed to burn off a quality field in the Simon Benson Memorial.
Photos by Clint Anderson.
