Mark Davidson Secures Two Black Top Finalists at The Gardens
The Mark Davidson-trained Fat Boy's Dream served up a huge effort to take out one of five heats of the Group 2 Black Top at The Gardens on Friday night, and four races later, Frisky Felon produced a similar effort to give Davidson two chances in next week's final.
Trained by Mark Davidson, Fat Boy's Dream lined up in the 515m heat, paying +650 with top online greyhound bookmakers.
At box rise, Big Boy Wilson (+2200) got out to lead on the first turn, with Fat Boy's Dream cruising in third.
Fat Boy's Dream moved up on the final turn to throw down the challenge and ran down the leader in the shadows of the post to win.
She beat home Big Boy Wilson and Chopping In (+4000) by half a length, finishing in a time of 29.54.
2023 Group 2 Black Top Heat 1 – Fat Boy's Dream (29.54) T: Mark Davidson
Last time out, on September 6, she finished last when running over the 537m at Taree in the Taree Million Dollar Chase (MDC) regional final, after saluting at the same track and trip on August 30.
Fat Boy's Dream joined the Mark Davidson kennel in December last year, finishing fifth on debut for the new trainer in a heat of the Group 3 Christmas Gift over the 520m at Wentworth Park.
The Aston Dee Bee x Fat Boy's Baby bitch has 17 wins and 20 placings from 49 career starts and has banked $71,560 in prizemoney.
Next week, she will line up for her 50th career start in the $40,000 to-the-winner 2023 Group 2 Black Top final.
Brandy Hill trainer Davidson will have two Black Top finalists after winning a second heat with Frisky Felon in 29.51.
Frisky Felon, who was a +800 chance with greyhound betting sites, sprung from box six to set up an unassailable lead.
The daughter of Fabregas and Left Unsaid led all the way to beat Shot Of Red by 4.25 lengths in 29.51.
2023 Group 2 Black Top Heat 4 – Frisky Felon (29.51) T: Mark Davidson
Frisky Felon, who has won 10 races and run 16 placings in 38 starts, will be starting in her first black-type final in next week's Group 2 race.
Davidson was almost lost for words when qualifying two greyhounds for The Gardens' feature final, saying, “The Black Top is the main race here; to win a Black Top on your home track would be enormous.
“It's not often I'm lost for words, but I'm just really excited for next week,” Davidson said.
Other Black Top heat winners were Head The Charge (29.34), Nangar Lucy (29.31), and Umberto (29.35).
For the first time, the Group 2 Black Top final will double as a regional final of the 2023 Million Dollar Chase, with the first placegetters in the final qualifying for direct entry to the MDC semi-finals on October 6 at Wentworth Park.
You can read the full Million Dollar Chase series schedule here: 2023 Million Dollar Chase Schedule