Freakish Fernando out to dominate Bendigo Cup series

FERNANDO Bale looks destined to extend his marvellous winning streak to 14 this Sunday when he contests the sixth heat of the Bendigo Cup over 425 metres.

Drawn ideally in box one in race eight, the son of Kelsos Fusileer and Chloe Allen, currently $1.05 with Bet365, comes into the event without a look at the track, but that is not a concern for his co-trainer, .

“A lot of people place a fair bit of importance on trialling dogs at a track, but the way we look at it is their first start there can be their trial,” Dailly said.

“You only get so many starts behind the with a dog, so why waste travelling with them and trialling them?”

Renowned for his blistering early speed, no other greyhounds can keep up with flying Fernando at present. He comes into the series fresh off a win in Saturday's Group 1 Peter Mosman Classic at Wentworth Park where he clocked a phenomenal 29.27 over the 520 metre trip.

Dailly said Australia's best greyhound, a winner of 21 from 26 and nearly $630,000, has pulled up super after that effort and will be ready for another terrific display on Sunday.

“It would be nice if he could make it 14 (wins) and it is up to him now – all we can do is put him in the box and see what he does – he is 100% so we'll just see what happens.”

A four-time Group 1 winner, Fernando Bale is creeping closer to breaking 's record of 16 consecutive wins on TAB tracks – a feat which was set back in 2009 – with every start. However, that is certainly not on the top of the priority list for Dailly.

“It would be nice if he could do it but the world wont change if he does,” he said.

“It doesn't make much difference to us whether he gets the record, as long as the dog is healthy and is going around ok I am not too fussed about records.”

While there are no plans of retirement in the near future, Dailly confirmed that there are little Fernandos set to be running around in the coming months. The white and dark brindle superstar recently got a glimpse of what his future will entail when his racing career comes to an end, and will continue to do so when time permits.

“If he gets a couple of weeks off we will draw some more semen,” Dailly said.

“We will fit it into his schedule as long as it doesn't affect his racing. He is a really good chaser, but obviously we don't want to be doing it too close to a race.”

Team Dailly will have a further eight greyhounds engaged across the Bendigo Cup heats on Sunday, with plenty of attention sure to be given to Dyna Villa at his first start for his new trainers.

The dual Group 1 winner recently joined the Daillys' Anakie team after his former trainer, Nicole Davis, was suspended following a positive swab.

Dyna Villa, $1.90 fixed with Bet365, will jump from box six in race five.

“He is obviously a very good dog and he has done brilliantly in his career so far, so we will just see what he does on Sunday,” Dailly said.

“He is going ok. He might take a little bit longer to adapt to whats going on, but having said that he is getting trained exactly the same way as he was before.

“It will be interesting to see how he goes. He has been trialling well, but he hasn't been setting the world .”

The Daillys are enjoying a terrific run with their greyhounds at present. On Thursday night, , which ran second to Fernando Bale in Saturday's Peter Mosman Classic, won a heat of the Group 1 Winter Cup at in time.

Beginning steadily from box eight, the son of and Crystin Bale showed tremendous acceleration to find the front in the run to the post on the first occasion, circling the field and kicking clear.

Once in front it was a case of times and margins, with the 34 kilogram powerhouse motoring to the line 10-and-a-half lengths clear of Blue Scorpion and Cheeky Chance in 29.51, shaving seven one-hundredths off the previous record held jointly by Late Angel Lee and Made To Size.

Dailly said it was good to see Dyna Double One step out of the shadows of his champion kennel mate.

“I wasn't sure whether or not he would break the track record but it was no great surprise, I was just happy he ran a good race.

“He doesn't have the same acceleration as Fernando Bale, thats the difference between the two of them. As far as pure speed goes there is nothing between the two dogs.

“If he had the same explosive early toe as Fernando he would be winning just as many races, he just runs into a bit of trouble, thats all, but he is very fast.”

Team Dailly will have two in the Group 1 Winter Cup final next week, with Dyna Double One (box five) drawn on the direct outside of Dawkins Bale (box four) in the $100,000-to-the-winner feature.

Watch Dyna Double One set a new track record from box eight.

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