Hosking wins hometown Cup as Eagle Monelli salutes in Darwin
Eagle Monelli took out the Darwin Cup Final on Sunday night delivering an elusive title for trainer Jamie Hosking.
The Hosking-trained chaser was sent out in the 537m feature as a $5 chance with greyhound bookmakers.
Jumping from the inside draw, Eagle Monelli got the clean getaway to hit the lead and hold it for the entire trip.
He beat home Omar Monelli ($8.50) and kennel mate Pebble’s Girl ($12.70) by three and a half lengths, in a time of 31.26.
2023 Darwin Cup Final Replay – Eagle Monelli
Hosking, a Darwin native was impressed with the performance in the $25,000-to-the-winner Darwin Cup final.
“Absolutely stoked,” he said after the win.
“Home town cup doesn’t get much better than that.
“I used to live in Darwin and have been in Brisbane for five years now.
“But we come back every year to Darwin, except for the covid years.
“We will get them home now.
“The dogs and I need to recover.”
Eagle Monelli showed the improvement that Hosking expected, after her second placing in the heat last week, won by Misdemeanour.
Last week’s heat was his first look at the track and his first run over the 500m since he travelled the distance on March 5 at the Rockhampton track.
Eagle Monelli took a third placing in the Perth Cup Consolation Final at Cannington in March while with the Steve Withers kennel.
He moved to the Hosking kennel in April, heading to the Sunshine State where he took three straight victories at Albion Park and Rockhampton.
“Steve (Withers) and his family are very good mates of mine,” Hosking said.
“He stayed with me last year for the Brisbane Cup with Eagle Monelli and a few others.
“Some owners brought him a few months ago and he came to me.
“Credit to Steve and Kira as they sent him over in race winning condition.”
The Keybow x Mamma Monelli dog has 19 wins and 17 placings from 44 starts and has banked $104, 940 in prize money.