My Girl Chloe out to cause an upset in Group 1 National Futurity
MY Girl Chloe will be aiming to keep her unbeaten Wentworth Park record intact when she contests the Group 1 National Futurity (520 metres) on Saturday night in the Harbour City.
The daughter of Fabregas and Natural Sapphire, $15 with Bet365, is trained in Victoria by leading conditioners Brett and Kelly Bravo and was impressive in her heat last week, scoring by three quarters of a length over Fantastic Skye in a respectable 30.25.
Beginning fairly from box three, the black bitch was able to rail underneath Fantastic Skye down the back, holding off a late resurgence from the Group 2 Laurels winner to score.
This week, My Girl Chloe moves into box two, a draw from which she is yet to be unplaced from five starts, with Kelly Bravo hoping that she is able to step better in the $75,000-to-the-winner event.
“She is normally a good beginner but she hasn't jumped very well at Wentworth Park yet and that is normally how she wins her races, so we are hoping that she can get out better on Saturday night and get to the front,” Bravo said.
“The boxes are different at Wentworth Park – down in Victoria the boxes seem to be a lot more open at the front – so hopefully being her third go she will be getting used to them and she can find the lead.”
My Girl Chloe will face some tough opposition in the female-only final including fellow Victorian Dyna Maddie ($2.80F) which recorded a flying 29.70 qualifying win for team Dailly.
Bravo says My Girl Chloe will need a lot of luck to feature in the event, with her main threat drawn directly on her outside.
“The Dailly's dog has a fair bit on the rest of the field so if it gets a chance to race with some clear room I think it will be very hard to beat.”
Ironically, My Girl Chloe went into the series as the underdog for her kennel, but with their other greyhound Pearl's Legacy only qualifying as the second reserve, it appears the Bravo's sole shot at taking home the prize lies with the consistent front runner.
“She ran nice time at Warrnambool the week before Brett went up to Sydney so he decided to take her up for a drive with the others – as it happens she is the one to have made the final,” Kelly quipped.
Other key players in the race include Natahli Dedee (box one), Cash In Motion (box four) and Mitcharlie Mia (box five), all of which come into the feature in hot form.
Also on Saturday night at Wentworth Park is the Group 1 National Derby for the boys which is currently shaping up as a wide open affair, with every finalist having broken the 30 second barrier in their qualifiers last week.
The regally bred Pedro Cerrano ($7.50 with William Hill) is right in contention following his 29.99 heat win last Saturday, with the son of Where's Pedro and Chasing Diana drawn ideally in box two.
Good Odds Ocker ($6.50) qualified fastest for the final (29.67) but will have to contend with box eight, while Anthony Azzopardi will be aiming to secure his second Group 1 at Wenty within a fortnight with Asa Killer Queen ($6) set to jump from box four.
An action packed 10 race card kicks off at Wentworth Park at 7:28pm AEDT on Saturday night, with the National Futurity (race six) and the National Derby (race eight) set to jump at 9:13pm and 9:57pm respectively.