Mark Sure Can highlights a great night for Pollard at Rockhampton
Mark Sure Can strengthened his perfect record over the Rockhampton 407m trip with another win on Wednesday night as his trainer took a winning double.
The Christine Pollard-trained chaser was sent to the boxes in the fourth-grade contest as the heavily supported race favourite, paying $1.30 with the top greyhound bookies.
Out of box seven, he exploded to the lead soon after box rise and dictated the tempo to for the entire trip, leading by 10 lengths as he turned the final corner.
He beat home Rosa’s Rita ($5) by six lengths in 23.29, with Central Locking ($19) finishing in third.
The winning time improved on his previous best of 23.33, clocked last week in the QGold Final when beating home More Peaches by the tightest margin (0.13).
With the win, the Slick x Sure You Can dog notched up eight straight wins over the 407m trip, while improving to an 82% strike rate with nine wins and one minor placing from 11 career starts.
He now moves to third on the list of the Emerald-based kennel’s highest earners, with $28,860 in prize money, with the most successful being the now retired Thrilla Moment, which banked $49,922, with 26 wins and 18 minor placings from 63 career starts.
Kennelmate Edgewood lined up as $1.65 race favourite and saluted to remain undefeated from three starts, all at the 407m trip.
Jumping from the wide alley, he got out fairly before moving up around the field to sit third behind Grand Riku ($2.90) and Farmor Hype ($34).
Heading around the final bend into the home straight, Edgewood travelled wide crossing with Grand Riku and a fast-finishing Italian Steal ($12) through on the rail.
Edgewood beat home Grand Riku by less than a nose (0.03) in 23.87, with Italian Steal finishing third.
Edgewood is from a 2021 litter of three, out of Bossy Miss Bella by Fernando Bale, with both littermates also trained by Pollard and building strong careers over the Rockhampton 407m trip. Grande Bahama, with three wins and a runner-up finish from five career starts; and Educator having lined up in five starts for four wins.