‘Country cyclone’ Typhoon Sammy claimed tonight’s $70,335 Group 2 Taylor’s Palace Hotel Horsham Cup (485m) in ‘whirlwind’ fashion.
Typhoon Sammy – trained at Pearcedale by master conditioner Jason Thompson – continued his ‘tsunami’ landing his second provincial cup. He won the G2 Traralgon Cup on January 26.
He also finished third in last year’s G2 Bendigo Cup after breaking the 425m track record with a sizzling 23.28sec performance in a heat.
Owned by Samuel Dart in Dulguigan, NSW, Typhoon Sammy provided a timely boost for his owners, the Dart family (dad John and mum Glenda) from the Northern Rivers, who have once again borne the brunt of the devastating floods currently afflicting the region.
Thompson’s son and handler Luke said pre-race: “What they had to deal with last week is really unfortunate… He’s a great man Johnny.
“We couldn’t have been happier with the draw being out wide in box eight and having Americano Miss , which makes a beeline for the rail in box seven.
“We had a quiet week with him. He had a little gallop up the straight. Just enough (exercise) to make sure he was peaking for tonight.”
And post-race, Luke added: “He went alright and got the job done. He had a trouble-free run from the outside, jumped well and was just too quick for them on the night.
“It’s a long drive up, it’s a four and a half-hour trip with a couple of stops but it’s a track I’m happy to travel to.”
In a ‘hurricane’ start from Box 8, Typhoon Sammy ($2.30F) blew his rivals away with a 3.1-length win over Americano Miss ($12.10), with reserve runner Lots Of Chatter ($7.90) a further 1.1 lengths away third in 27.21sec.
WATCH: He was the slowest heat winner but TYPHOON SAMMY (8) was fastest when it counted most, taking out the Group 2 Horsham Cup Final in 27.21sec over AMERICANO MISS (7) and LOTS OF CHATTER (9).
CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK
Handler Luke Thompson chats to GRV’s Louise Martin after TYPHOON SAMMY’s stunning Group 2 #HorshamCup win earlier tonight. pic.twitter.com/UElwB3cqO7
— WatchDog Racing (@WatchDogRacing) March 4, 2022
Typhoon Sammy notched his 26th win from 39 starts, including six of his past eight, and the $47,000 first prize catapulted his stakes to $178,055.
Thompson collected his fourth piece of Horsham Cup silverware, having previously won the event with Monsters Inc (2003), Marungi Blaze (2006) and Winsome History (2007).
In the past two decades, he has finished runner-up with Hanify’s Impact (2009), Don’t Knocka Him (2012) and Innocent Til (2014). And he also finished third with Hot Price (2010).
Runner-up Americano Miss, which was chasing Victorian greyhound racing’s ‘first lady’ Andrea Dailly her third Horsham Cup in 10 years, was gallant in defeat.
Dailly won the race with Dyna Tron (2012) and Shima Shine, which quinellaed last year’s final with kennelmate Jax Bale. She also finished second with Cromlah Bale (2007) and Allen Deed (2015).
Other feature race winners on Horsham Cup night:
Pawnote: The G2 Horsham Cup series was the first leg of the ‘Western Festival of Racing’. Next on the agenda is the G2 Ballarat Cup (April 8), followed by the G2 Geelong Cup (April 22) and Warrnambool Cup (May 4).
Photos by Clint Anderson
