Bec Gibbons trains half the 2023 Bendigo Cup finalists
Trainer Bec Gibbons was in complete shock after training four winners in the heats of the 2023 Group 2 Bendigo Cup on Sunday night.
Based at Avalon, the kennel had a successful night in the eight 425m Group 2 heats with Quinlan Bale, Nicolson Bale, Mr Anderson, and Zella Bale, all saluting to qualify for the $50,000-to-the-winner final on October 13.
Husband and co-trainer Danny Gibbons spoke with Australian Racing Greyhound after the heats and admitted the quartet win came as a bit of a surprise, with two recently returning from injury.
“She (wife Bec) is definitely in shock, but I won't hear the end of it,” he said.
“She handled all four by herself – magic hands.”
The first win came in the third heat, with Quinlan Bale (+310) coming through late on the rails to beat home Top Payer by 0.59 of a length in 23.75.
2023 Group 2 Bendigo Cup Heat 3 – Quinlan Bale (23.75) T: Bec Gibbons
“Quinlan was super,” Danny Gibbons said.
“He got checked out the back at box rise and really bulldozed his way to the win.”
In a quick race-to-race double, Nicolson Bale started as the +110 race favourite on greyhound betting apps, and beat home Borneo Brave by 0.94 length in 23.64.
2023 Group 2 Bendigo Cup Heat 4 – Nicolson Bale (23.75) T: Bec Gibbons
“'Nico' loves box eight because he needs that room to really take off,” Gibbons said.
“I knew Borneo Brave was going to lead like he did, so it was just whether or not ‘Nico' could get him.”
Quinlan Bale and Nicolson Bale are full brothers from the 2020 litter by Feral Franky out of Ethla Allen, the same litter that produced ‘Country Cups Queen' Kelsey Bale.
“'Nico' and ‘Quinny', the ‘Bash Brothers', are into another group final together,” Gibbons said.
The brothers have competed against one another in the past two editions of the Group 2 Healesville Cup, with Quinlan Bale placing in both.
The third kennelmate to salute in the Bendigo Cup heats was Mr Anderson, who started a +1200 with greyhound bookmakers.
Mr. Anderson beat Mac's Damage by 3.44 lengths in 23.79, with Lektra Heckler finishing third.
2023 Group 2 Bendigo Cup Heat 5 – Mr Anderson (23.75) T: Bec Gibbons
“Mr Anderson is a great story,” his co-trainer adds.
“We got him off a family in South Australia who I met when we won the Mt Gambier Cup.
“He came to us young with super potential; we made it back to the Mt Gambier Cup with him.
“He tore his back muscle, and he has only just come back.
“He is really quickly getting the hang of it, and I think he has the potential to be a real handy city dog.”
The last of the Gibbons' trained Bendigo Cup qualifiers was Zella Bale, who started as a +590 chance with greyhound betting sites.
At box-rise, she got out to sit fourth early, with Packham Silk and Silver Brute sharing the lead.
Around the final corner and into the home straight, Silver Brute led, with Volkanovski pushing up to challenge before Zella Bale got the clear rail run late to come under the pair and win.
She beat home Silver Brute by 1.4 lengths in a time of 23.86 to book her spot in her third group final.
2023 Group 2 Bendigo Cup Heat 3 – Zella Bale (23.87) T: Bec Gibbons
She finished fourth in the Group 2 Traralgon Cup final in January this year and is from a Feral Franky x Dyna Zesty litter that produced this year's Group 1 Super Stayers Final winner, Ariarne Bale.
“Zella just spent a month on the sidelines with an elbow injury,” Gibbons said.
“She had one trial on the inside track at Geelong, and she was just thrown in at the last minute for these heats.
“We were not expecting her to win, especially against the field she faced.
“She didn't give up; she is a real little trooper.”
The other heat winners qualifying for the final next Friday were Nineteen Crimes (23.59), Unleash Collinda (23.85), Shima Shadow (23.73), and Alpha Zulu, who clocked the fastest time of the heats in 23.52.
2023 Group 2 Bendigo Cup Heat 6 – Alpha Zulu (23.53) T: Jason Thompson
Alpha Zulu ran second in the Group 3 Warragul St Leger final in his last start, on September 22, and Gibbons admitted that the Jason Thompson-trained chaser would be the one to beat.
The Thompson kennel is looking to win their sixth Bendigo Cup, with two finalists being Alpha Zulu and Unleash Collinda.
2023 Group 2 Bendigo Cup Heat 2 – Unleash Collinda (23.85) T: Jason Thompson
Last year's edition of the Bendigo Cup was won by Jason Thompson's Typhoon Sammy, who also collected a $50,000 bonus for winning a third country cup final within the same year.