Bertacious Bee Wins 2014 Group 2 Dapto Puppy Classic
The Bertinato and Micallef combination proved a winner yet again in the Group 2 Dapto Puppy Classic after Bertacious Bee (7) took out the rich $75,000 race.
Chris Bertinato is one of Bertacious Bee's owners. George Micallef trains the 34kg chaser. The duo tasted victory previously in this race, when No Rules League took out the event in 2011.
The running of the 2014 was delayed by a week due to bad storms in the Illawarra the previous Thursday. The conditions were not much better for this week's race with a howling southerly and wet conditions greeting runners at the famous Dapto circuit.
Steve White's La Pearl (8) went to the boxes as favourite but walked out of the boxes and gave the front-runners a good head start. Spring Bonanza (3) was away well from box three and led the charge into the first turn but Bertacious Bee was hot on her heels. He hit the lead down the back and held off the fast finishing Magic Earner (6) by 1 1/2 lengths. Rare Pearl made up plenty of ground for third.
Bertacious Bee, a black dog by Bekim Bale and It's Happy Hour (Bonbastic Shiraz – Strapper) stopped the clock at 29.97, which is his best winning time at the track. Bertacious Bee was bred by Bertinato and bought back for $1000 at the 2013 Dapto Puppy Auction. George Micallef is the first trainer to secure two winners of the Puppy Auction series.
Full Results
1st: Bertacious Bee (7) – George Micallef
2nd: Magic Earner (6) – Jodie Lord
3rd: Rare Pearl (8) – Steven White
4th: Spring Bonanza (3) – Tom Tzouvelis
5th: Tonight Tonight (4) – Garry Edwards
6th: Stilton Lucky (1) – Phillip Goodsell
7th: Magic Rama (9) – Lorraine Perrin
8th: Lunar Sky (5) – Amy Bennett
Time: 29.97
1st Split: 5.43
2nd Split: 17.28
Run Home: 12.69
Margins: 1 ½ x 1 3/4
Scratchings: Alderley Reform (2), Magic Knight (10)