My Catalina storms home in stunning Sandown win
My Catalina stormed over the top to take a win for her new trainer, Dustin Drew, at Sandown Park on Thursday.
She lined up in the 715m mixed-grade contest as a $3.90 hope with online greyhound bookmakers.
Jumping out of the red box, she got out to sit fourth behind leader Osprey Diva ($13.20), Osprey Athena ($2.90) and Smoldering Decay ($73.30).
On the first corner, she moved up to be third, five lengths off the leader as they headed into the straight.
Around the final bend, she began her move, passing Osprey Athena to eye Osprey Diva before storming past her to win in a huge finish.
She won by a quarter of a length, beating home the two Angela Langton-trained Osprey chasers in a time of 42.05.
My Catalina – Sandown, August 31
On August 24, My Catalina had her first start with the new kennel and finished third behind Raven Parrot.
Trainer Drew said her performance impressed but she will show improvement with runs.
“She joined our kennel in very good condition,” he said.
“I think there is plenty of upside to her and hopefully she continues to improve.
“There are a lot of good staying dogs coming through the ranks like Zoha Bale, Like Wildfire and Palawa King.
“I still think Zipping Orlando is the forgotten dog when you talk about stayers though. I think once he gets to 700m you will see the best of him.”
My Catalina joined the Drew kennel earlier this month from Gino Micallef, who still owns the chaser.
“Gino really wanted to see her over the 700m in staying competition,” Drew said.
“She has settled in well, quickly. Most dogs take a little while to settle in, but she is not like that at all.
“She is really small, there is not much of her, but she looks to be able to take on anything I ask of her, so that should help a lot in future.”
The My Redeemer x Black Pontiac bitch has eight wins 14 placings from 40 career starts and has banked $30,625 in prize money for connections.