She’s A Pearl & Wow She’s Fast finally battle it out on Saturday
She's A Pearl is so happy to be back racing that she's trying to catch birds out of the sky.
That was trainer Andy Lord's assessment of her mindset before she clashes with fellow superstar bitch Wow She's Fast for the first time in the Shootout over 515m at Sandown Park on Saturday night.
It is a matchup greyhound racing fans have been craving for quite some time and, with $50,000 going to the winner, it certainly won't be a light lead-up run for the Melbourne Cup at the same venue on November 26.
She's A Pearl is the second-favourite at $2.20 with Ladbrokes, behind two-year-old rival Wow She's Fast at $1.70.
But the 2021 Million Dollar Chase winner appears to be building nicely for the lucrative Dream Chasers series in Melbourne.
Lord's world record prizemoney winner – with $1.368 million to her name – won her last start over 520m in an impressive time of 29.34 seconds at Wentworth Park on November 2.
“She's going good,” Lord told Australian Racing Greyhound.
“Her last win at Wentworth Park was good.
“All the splits were good and she ran 29.34, which is very fast.
“She has (got her enthusiasm back). She's trying to catch birds out of the sky.”
After coming on season, injury and illness setbacks saw She's A Pearl surprisingly crash out of 2022 Million Chase contention, finishing fourth in her semi-final on September 16.
But Pearl fans can breathe a sigh of relief – their much-loved sprinter is back to her old self.
“Some bitches get over it (coming on season) quick and some take a long time,” Lord said.
“She got over it all right, but she got injured after it and a virus.
“She had her fair share of bad luck.
“She tore a hip. (But) she's back to her normal self.”
A chance meeting before a trial at Sandown was the catalyst that led to Lord entering She's A Pearl in the Shootout on Saturday night.
“I was heading down to have a trial, and someone told me about the Shootout, so I thought we'll just go in that,” Lord said.
This means the precocious three-year-old will finally line up against fellow superstar Wow She's Fast, after they were supposed to clash in a special showdown last month.
Lord didn't go ahead with those plans due to the health of his kennel star.
“If we were going to have a match race, we would've wanted to trial her on the track,” he said.
“And it all just got too hard, so we canned it.
“I don't think I met her (Wow She's Fast) when she came to Sydney.
“It's good (both well-known bitches clashing in a great promotion for greyhound racing).”
If She's A Pearl can continue her form revival, she will be one of the Melbourne Cup fancies, with heats for the prestigious $1 million race to be held next Saturday.
“We'll see how she performs on Saturday. She's never seen Sandown,” Lord said.
“I'd like to see her go well. She's never been away from Sydney, so she has to impress me to go back.
“And I think she will. I think she'll go good.”
Lord had no doubt that She's A Pearl would eventually get back to her consistent winning ways after health concerns following her incredible 2021 Million Dollar Chase triumph on May 7, saluting in 29.32 seconds.
“I knew she was always going to come back. It was just when,” he said.
“And I was hoping it was before Christmas because that's when all the big races are on.”