2023 Group 1 Brisbane Cup betting little changed after seven heats drawn
The 2023 Group 1 Brisbane Cup nominations closed on Monday June 26, and Racing Queensland (RQ) found enough nominations for the $650,000 to-the-winner race to draw seven full field heats.
Of the 56 greyhound hopefuls lining up for a chance to win the $1 million race series, 12 Victorian greyhounds, six West Australian (WA) dogs, three South Australian (SA) greyhounds, one New South Wales (NSW) chaser, and the lone New Zealand (NZ) contender will head to the boxes on Thursday night at Albion Park.
Prior to the close of nominations, greyhound betting apps had installed New Zealand-import Postman Pat the +250 ‘all-in' betting favourite after a near record 29.39 Brisbane Cup Prelude win.
Having drawn box eight in the fourth Brisbane Cup heat (race 9), bookmakers have not been shaken by the draw, keeping the pre-race favourite safely locked in at the +250.
Postman Pat will have to overcome 2023 Group 1 Golden Easter Egg winner Simply Limelight (box seven), Group 1 Harrison Dawson placegetter Dundee Smokey (box two), 2021 Group 2 Queensland Derby finalist Fernando Grand (box one), straight-tracker Panama Canal (box three), Group 2 Flying Amy Classic finalist Victa Marli (box four), local star De Ferran (box five), and Group 2 WA Derby finalist Pudding Monelli (box six).
Postman Pat will be aiming to win his seventh race in Australia from seven starts since arriving in Australia in March this year with fellow Kiwi-import Big Daddy.
Both Postman Pat and Panama Canal are under Queensland trainer Tony Brett's care while racing in Queensland for their Queensland Winter Carnival campaigns.
Amron Boy was moved in to second favourite to win the Brisbane Cup after a good Brisbane Cup prelude win last week, when he ran away with the race to win by 6.25 lengths in 29.73.
The 2023 Group 1 Harrison Dawson winner has drawn box two in the opening heat of the Brisbane Cup heats.
Like Postman Pat, greyhound betting apps have not lost any resolve about Amron Boy's chances, and have left him at +600 to win the Group 1 race final.
From box two Amron Boy's hard finishing style of racing should be ideally suited against one of the weaker Brisbane Cup heats.
The logical challenge to Amron Boy's chances will be from fellow Victorian and Harrison Dawson runner-up Kai Bale from box one, while the only others given any hope to unsettle the Brooke Ennis chaser are middle distance greyhound Adulate (box three), and 2023 Group 3 Grafton Cup winner Cash Master (box five).
The Jason Thompson-trained Alpha Zulu was on the third line of the cup ‘all-in' betting at +700 prior to the heats box draw, but has been wound out to odds of +1100 after drawing a very keenly contested race in the last of the seven heats.
Qualifying chances for many of the main hopefuls will be on the line in race 12 on Thursday night, with Alpha Zulu to exit box one and take on State Of Origin Sprint series winner Magistrate (box two), Victorian ‘Country Cups' Queen Kelsey Bale from box four, and 2023 Group 3 Launching Pad runner-up Trapper Tears (box five).
Greyhound bookies have pushed Kelsey Bale in to +1000 in ‘all-in' betting, ahead of Alpha Zulu, following the box draw, and on the back of a 29.66 Brisbane Cup prelude win two weeks ago.
Victorian greyhound trainer Daniel Gibbons has said he will follow the same path as he did with the prelude win, flying up with Kelsey Bale on the day of the race, and returning home the next day by plane.
With Kelsey Bale and Alpha Zulu dominating the betting from the last race, and only the seven winners plus the fastest second to progress to the rich final; Magistrate has been wound out to +3300, while Trapper Tears is at +5000.
Albion Park track record holder Jay Is Jay is now the equal second favourite in Brisbane Cup ‘all-in' betting following the close of nominations.
The Selena Zammit-trained local chaser has won his last four races at the track including the Listed Winter QGOLD Sprint, and a last-start win in the 2023 State Of Origin Match Race beating Simply Limelight.
While as much as +800 was available about the dog prior to the box draw for the heats, online bookmakers have wound him in to +600 after he drew box four in the third Brisbane Cup heat (race 8.)
In a heat without much competition of his standing, the stiffest opposition could come from WA visitor Crumble Monelli (box one), while Hostile Assassin (box three), Tomahawk Hayze (box five), and 2023 Group 2 Flying Amy Classic winner Dundee Rebel from box six, are the best of the rest.
Panama Pepper is another to share equal second favouritism in greyhounds odds with Jay Is Jay and Amron Boy.
The WA greyhound is no stranger to Albion Park, having started there seven times for four wins and a placing, including making the final of the 2022 Group 2 Flying Amy Classic.
Under the care of Tony Brett for the 2023 Brisbane Cup, bookies have kept him very short to win the second of the seven heats, in what is not the strongest of the cup heats.
Last start The Thunderbolt placegetter at Grafton, Custard Monelli, is best placed to upset Panama Pepper from box two, but will have to contend with the sharp rise in distance from the world's richest short course race to the testing 520m trip.
Outside of the top five in greyhound betting for the ‘all-in' Brisbane Cup market, another six greyhounds are all quoted at +1100 to win the cup along with Alpha Zulu.
The open nature of the remaining heats have seen recent WA Winter Cup winner Electrified (box seven, heat 6, race 11), 2023 Group 1 Perth Cup winner Elite Machine (box two, heat 5, race 10), 2023 Silver Chief finalist Rejuvenate (box five heat 5, race 10), 2023 Group 2 Flying Amy Classic runner-up Umberto (box eight, heat 6 race 11), and 2023 Group 1 National Derby winner Victa Damian (box six, heat 6, race 11); all posted as +1100 to win the cup, given the competition they will face just to qualify for the final.
In addition to the $10,000 first prizemoney on offer to each Brisbane Cup heat winner on Thursday night, many of the greyhounds will also be racing for $10,000 bonus payments made available to greyhounds who were placed in Queensland Winter Carnival lead-up races, and who can win a heat of the 2023 Brisbane Cup.
The $1 million 2023 Group 1 Brisbane Cup final will be run on Friday July 7 2023 at Albion Park, paying $650,000 to-the-winner.