2016 Silver Chief Classic won by Lightning Frank
LIGHTNING Frank has scored a dominant victory in Sunday night's Group 1 Silver Chief Classic (525m) at The Meadows.
Stepping from box five, Lightning Frank was only fairly away and was pushed wide through the catching pen, circling the pack to sit in third spot on the outside of Rockstar Troy (box three) just behind the leader Thirty Talks (box one).
Unfortunately, Thirty Talks went amiss down the back straight, fading back through the field, meanwhile Lightning Frank slipped into top gear, racing to the lead and sprinting clear.
Coming off the back, the son of Black Magic Opal and Kirabillie Abbie was in a race of his own, dashing to the line to score by three lengths over the fast-finishing Reefton Treasure (box seven) in a nippy 29.98.
Outside chance Lorenzo Blue (box six) ran the race of his life to finish third, with Rockstar Troy fading to finish fourth after racing prominently throughout most of the event.
Trained by Mathew Wright, Lightning Frank has now won 13 of his 22 starts with an additional five minor placings, whilst his prize money earnings are now in excess of $160,000.
It was the biggest victory of Wright's training career, with the Allansford-based conditioner only keeping six greyhounds in work at any time.
A veterinary examination of Thirty Talks following the event revealed an injury to his offside back muscle, with the Tony Brett-trained greyhound set to spend an extended period on the sidelines.