Darcy Dakota delivers for Stagg in 2025 Murray Bridge Cup

Darcy Dakota has put in a stellar performance to claim the 2025 Group 3 Murray Bridge Cup, delivering a well-timed run to secure trainer Kerry Stagg one of the biggest victories of his career.

The blue dog, out of the high-performing Shima Shine x Dakota Roxy litter, produced an impressive 25.26-second run over 455m to take out the $35,000 feature event on Sunday.

Jumping from box three, Darcy Dakota positioned himself early in the race and surged forward to hold off a strong challenge from Mount Gambier-trained Bourne Model, while Compton Gold ran on well for third.

The victory was a testament to Stagg’s patience and fine-tuning, with the greyhound showing improved box manners to capitalise on a clean run at $5 odds with the top greyhound bookmakers.

“He’s been jumping terrible, but today we tried something different, and he jumped okay and got the room early,” Stagg told the recorder.

“He’s a brilliant, very fast dog if he gets a bit of room early, and he’s been getting a little bit stronger. We are very pleased—he put his best paw forward this week, and it was a great run.”

2025 Murray Bridge Cup Final Race Replay – Darcy Dokata (25.26)

[videopack id=”170095″]https://australianracinggreyhound.com/wpress/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Murray-Bridge-2025-090325-Murray-Bridge-Cup-Final-455m-Race-8-Darcy-Dakota-25.26-Kerry-Stagg-1.mp4[/videopack]

The Group 3 success adds another major win to Darcy Dakota’s record, bringing his career tally to 21 wins from 37 starts, with 13 placings.

It was also another major victory for the Shima Shine x Dakota Roxy litter, following Dakota Rylen’s Group 3 Brian Johnstone Final success in November.

With the Murray Bridge Cup now secured, Stagg is considering a tilt at the Group 3 Mount Gambier Cup in early April.

While acknowledging that Darcy Dakota might not yet be suited to the 512m journey, the trainer is weighing up his options, particularly with lucrative bonuses of up to $10,000 on offer for connections who can secure both feature races.

The Murray Bridge Cup meeting took place in a rare late-morning slot due to South Australia’s high temperatures, which soared into the high 30s by the afternoon.

Despite the early timing, a strong crowd was in attendance, and the support card delivered plenty of highlights.

With Darcy Dakota’s win, the greyhound’s stock continues to rise, and if his form continues to improve, there could be even bigger targets on the horizon for Stagg and his team.

2025 Murray Bridge Cup Final Results

More greyhound racing news