Morton sets the pace in 2024 Group 2 Warrnambool Cup Heats
Morton set the pace in the 2024 Group 2 Warrnambool Cup heats on Thursday night, April 25, winning impressively despite his lack of experience on the south-west Victorian track.
Morton, a Jason Sharp-trained greyhound, had never competed at Warrnambool before and entered the Group 2 heats after finishing third in the 2024 Sandgroper at Cannington, which was on the other side of the country, a week prior.
Despite the lack of local knowledge, greyhound punters and online bookmakers sent Morton to the boxes as a +120 race favourite to take out his heat.
The 2024 Group 1 Gold Bullion winner at Albion Park was able to offset the lack of track experience with a determined beginning from box two, taking the lead just after they passed the 400 metre boxes.
Finding the lead and the rail, it was a case of times and margins for the son of Tommy Shelby and Chloe Louise, going on to win by 5.3 lengths over Grand Tourer in a best of night time of 24.87.
The winning time is just over three lengths outside Dutch Riot's 24.66 track record set in December 2023.
The run was all the more meritorious considering it was Morton's first look at the track, and he is bound to improve upon the time with the local experience.
2024 Group 2 Warrnambool Cup Heat 4 – Morton (24.87) T: Jason Sharp
The Group 2 heat win made it 15 wins from 26 starts, and a further seven placings for the four-time Group 1 finalist.
He has now won connections $487,615 in prizemoney, and will head toward the $55,000 to-the-winner Warrnambool Cup final as a hot favourite having drawn box three in next week's final.
Sharp was impressed with his win, saying he was keen to freshen Morton up with some one-turn racing after battling elite company over two-turns most recently, saying, “He'd never been to Warrnambool before, and he's only ever had two horseshoe trials.
“He trialled over 400m and 460m at Geelong and they were both only in the last month.
“That's all he's ever had, so I was really happy with his run and hopefully he can improve on that next week.
“I wanted to introduce him to horseshoe tracks because the two-turn racing puts a lot of pressure on his body and it will freshen up his mind too.”
It was a good night for fellow Sandgroper finalists, with both Fernando Phil and Trooper Tears also posting Warrnambool Cup heat wins.
Fernando Phil, who finished fifth in the 2024 Sandgroper, won Heat 2 of the cup in 25.04.
2024 Group 2 Warrnambool Cup Heat 2- Fernando Phil (25.04) T: Michelle Mallia
Trooper Tears won the opening heat for trainer Rob Britton in 25.32 after finishing sixth in the 2024 Sandgroper.
2024 Group 2 Warrnambool Cup Heat 1 – Trooper Tears (25.32) T: Rob Britton
While Morton's 24.87 run set the pace for the 2024 Group 2 Warrnambool Cup Heats, he will not be without fierce competition in next week's final after two other greyhounds from a powerhouse Victorian kennel also broke the 25 second barrier winning their heats.
Leading trainer Jason Thompson scored a race-to-race double when he trained Bernie Burrow to win his heat in 24.98, and Flying Zulu won his heat in 24.99.
2024 Group 2 Warrnambool Cup Heat 5 – Bernie Burrow (24.98) T: Jason Thompson
2024 Group 2 Warrnambool Cup Heat 6 – Flying Zulu (24.99) T: Jason Thompson
Other heats winners were Description in 25.14, and Super Shanks in 25.32.
2024 Group 2 Warrnambool Cup Heat 3 – Description (25.14) T: Bec Gibbons
2024 Group 2 Warrnambool Cup Heat 7 – Super Shanks (25.32) T: Carl Haas
The box draw for the $55,000 to-the-winner Group 2 final was done after the final heat and has delivered Morton as your +220 2024 Warrnambool Cup race favourite with greyhound betting sites, starting from box three.
2024 Group 2 Warrnambool Cup Final
2024 Warrnambool Cup Box Draw & FieldWarrnambool450mGroup 2$55,000 to-the-winnerWednesday, May 1, 2024
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1 Super Shanks
+2000
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2 Trooper Tears
T: Rob Britton F: 1651Career: 28: 14-5-0Prizemoney: $293,017
+850
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3 Morton
T: Jason Sharp F: 7231Career: 26: 15-3-4Prizemoney: $487,615
+220
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4 Matt Loch
T: Michelle Mallia F: 1112Career: 24: 11-5-1Prizemoney: $379,735
+400
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5 Fernando Phil
T: Michelle Mallia F: 2461Career: 29: 10-7-3Prizemoney: $174,120
+400
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6 Flying Zulu
T: Jason Thompson F: 1271Career: 16: 9-2-0Prizemoney: $37,360
+400
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7 Description
T: Bec Gibbons F: 6211Career: 19: 8-4-1Prizemoney: $23,870
+2200
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8 Bernie Burrow
T: Jason ThompsonF: 1421Career: 22: 11-2-1Prizemoney: $37,410
+600
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| Reserves | |
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9 Ice Bath Forth
T: Matthew Wright F: 6312Career: 27: 10-8-3Prizemoney: $54,390
+1700
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10 Grand Tourer
T: Stephen Bruce F: 8162Career: 30: 10-5-2Prizemoney: $30,418
+4000
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Odds correct at time of publication