Ralph Beleives Her Second Cranbourne Cup Could Be Sonador’s
Sonador gets her racing moniker from a 2005 weepie, Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story, where a bitter old horse trainer and a lame thoroughbred are brought together by the love of a little girl.
Amy was emotionally touched by the flick's underlining theme of respecting human and animal life – the severely injured mare, Sonador, is adopted and saved from being put down.
The greyhound racing version is also a love story, albeit of a different kind, but Amy (2004 Victorian Young Trainer of the Year) is now dreaming of a second successive Cranbourne Cup after Sonador last night semaphored a sizzling 29.94sec heat win.
It was the second fastest time ever registered on the track.
Sonador (who also finished third in the 2007 event) is striving to emulate the legendary 1985 Victorian Greyhound of the Year National Star, who claimed back-to-back Cranbourne Cups in 1984-85.
“She's getting better with age… We've had a lot of fun with her,” Amy said. “If she repeats her heat effort she's in with a show in the final… She's drawn an alright box, which gives her a good look in. “But you can't afford to muck up in a Group race, and you also need a little bit of luck.”
A winner of 31 races from 119 starts, Sonador (who turned four on December 9 last year) will crack the $200,000 mark if she takes out the $30,000 first prize on Monday night, January 12.
Here's the field for the 2009 Group 2 Ram Security Cranbourne Cup (520m) :
- Turanza Bale
- Sonador
- Vintage Octane
- Beware
- Premier Moment
- Kendale Bale
- Yikes
- Stoner Bale
- Bora Bale
- Alpine Way
Reserves: