Zabdon Ferrari motors his way to Townsville Cup glory
ZABDON Ferrari scored the biggest win of his career on Tuesday night, taking out the Group 3 Townsville Cup over 498m.
Stepping from box six as the $4.40 second favourite, the black dog was outpaced in the initial stages as local chaser Rocket's Magic (box two) shot through to take the early lead.
Swinging into the back straight and the Tony Brett-trained greyhound started gaining momentum, slipping into top gear and circling the leader to take up the front spot.
Once on the bunny it was a case of times and margins, with the son of Magic Sprite and Awesome Knocka, a half sister to superstar Black Magic Opal, stretching out to score by six and three quarter lengths in a blistering 28.33 – a new track record time.
Sticking on well to hang on for second was Rocket's Magic, with another from Brett's kennel, Aston Jadore, running on to finish a head further back in third.
A place getter in the Group 2 Vince Curry Memorial and a finalist in the Group 2 Queensland Derby, the 33.8 kilogram chaser has now won seven of his 19 starts with a further nine minor placings, while the $25,000 winner's cheque took his career earnings to over $50,000.
It was the second time Brett has won the Townsville Cup, having also won the event with Velocity Regina in 2011.