Cosmic Duo And Darren Brown Take Aim At National Title
Darren Brown's dynamic duo Cosmic Chief and Cosmic Planet recorded impressive wins in their respective Victorian National Sprint heats at Sandown Park tonight.
Sent to the boxes a $1.60 favourite, Cosmic Chief made a modest start and settled just better than midfield before storming home to easily account for his rivals in a slick 29.68, while Cosmic Planet ($5.70) was tenacious in defeating Rev Limiter ($6.30) by a neck in 29.81.
However the fastest heat winner was Darren McDonald's speedster Octane Show ($3.70) who ran down recent Group 1 Maturity Classic winner El Grand Senor ($1.50) to win in a slick 29.66. A win to Octane Show in next Thursday night's Victorian Final would give McDonald a Nationals finalist for a remarkable sixth consecutive year.
Track specialist Arsonist secured a berth in the National Final courtesy of her all-the-way win in 29.76. Arsonist ($2.30F) is the highest ranked AGRA greyhound (based on Group race performances in 2010) to reach a State Final, and as such is guaranteed the chance to compete for Group 1 glory in front of her South Australian based owners.
Iceman Raikkonen ($5.20) took out a thrilling final heat in 29.96, defeating Credit Cruncher ($15.10) by a neck, with Stanford Bale ($12.20) a further nose away third. Race favourite Flash Of Light ($2.60F) powered home behind the leading pack for a fast finishing fourth.
The Victorian National Sprint Final will be held on Thursday 12 August at Sandown Park with the National Sprint Championship Grand Final to be run at Angle Park, South Australia, on Saturday 28 August.
Victorian State Final National Sprint Championships
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$14,500 National Sprint – Victorian Final (515m)
- 1 Radley Bale Graeme Bate $7
- 2 Cosmic Planet Darren Brown $9
- 3 Cosmic Chief Darren Brown $4
- 4 Arsonist Heather Collins $4
- 5 Dee Winter Ray Henness $16
- 6 Rev Limiter Tina Womann $9
- 7 Iceman Raikkonen Jeff Britton $14
- 8 Octane Show Darren McDonald $3.75
- 9 Mid Levels Peter Giles 1st Res
- 10 Credit Cruncher Ken Height 2nd Res
Reserves