The $100,000 question is: can superstar Simon Told Helen secure his fourth Group 1 win in the KCR Pet Transport Maturity Classic final (525m) at The Meadows on Saturday night?
And another exciting poser is: can he also break the split records (4.89sec & 17.37sec) that megastar Fernando Bale set in winning the 2015 Maturity Classic?
The second-highest stakes earner in Australian greyhound racing history ($1,299,370), Fernando Bale also established a modern-day race record of 29.50sec in that final.
But Simon Told Helen’s trainer, David Burnett, is naturally more interested in successfully ‘answering’ the former query come the weekend.
“He’s ready and raring to go… And he loves The Meadows,” Burnett said. (Simon Told Helen has won six times in eight starts there – including the G1 Silver Chief.)
However, Burnett is extremely mindful of the field’s calibre – particularly Hard Style Rico and Christo Bale.
WATCH: Simon Told Helen (4) runs his rivals ragged with a sizzling 29.68sec Maturity Classic heat win last week.
“Hard Style Rico (Box 1) will be hard to beat if he comes out on terms with Simon Told Helen (Box 3) and if Christo Bale (Box 2) sits on my tail, he could run him down.”
Simon Told Helen is $2.10F and 23 favourites have won the 50 Maturity Classic’s staged thus far. “Good dogs win the Maturity and many of them have gone to become top stud dogs,” Burnett said.
Amazingly, Simon Told Helen, according to Burnett, has started favourite in 26 of his 29 starts. “They’re Winx numbers,” he said.
Burnett says it’s a feather in Simon Told Helen’s cap to be compared with Fernando Bale.
“It’s fantastic… But he’s got to go on and top that to be rated his equal.”
And as for those split records at The Meadows?
“The wind was very blustery and swirly last weekend and he still ran 17.40sec to the second section… So, if weather conditions suit, I think he’s capable of breaking at least one of Fernando Bale’s split marks,” Burnett said.
Supporting Burnett’s thoughts are Simon Told Helen’s splits in four of his six wins at The Meadows:
16/10/10 – 4.99sec/17.40sec
28/12/19 – 5.00sec/17.41sec
4/1/20 – 4.99sec/17.40sec
18/7/20 – 4.97sec/17.40sec
Owned by the Emma’s Boys syndicate, Simon Told Helen (Jan ’18 Barcia Bale x Who Told Lindylu) has won 18 races and $529,035 in prizemoney. His other G1 wins include the Perth Cup (520m) at Cannington and Harrison-Dawson (515m) at Sandown.
The Maturity Classic is Race 7 at 8.40pm.
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