Shinners and Halse have half All Stars Sprint final but Elite Machine looms
WA trainers, Krystal Shinners and Chris Halse, will start two finalists each in the 2023 Group 2 All Stars Sprint final next week at Cannington after three heats on Saturday night.
Krystal Shinners holds the upper hand in the final, though, after winning the opening of three All Stars Sprint heats with Runaway To Mars in 29.61.
Jumping well from box six, Runaway To Mars was able to drive to the lead at the winning post the first time and continue in that role until the finish line.
Runaway To Mars was able to hold off a late challenge from Steve Withers' greyhound, Sneaky Peaky, to win by 0.75 lengths, with Chris Halse's West On Bonnie a further 0.75 lengths back in third.
2023 Group 1 All Stars Sprint Heat 1 – Runaway To Mars (29.61) T: Krystal Shinners
All three of the first greyhounds across the line will make next week's Group 2 $40,000 to-the-winner final.
Runaway To Mars was runner-up in the 2023 Listed WA Bred Championship at Cannington in September and has previously made the finals of the Group 3 Perth Cup consolation and the Listed Spring Gift, both at Cannington.
By Aussie Infrared out of Miss America, Runaway To Mars has won 14 of 33 starts with a further 13 placings.
Shinners and Halse both qualified their second Group 2 All Stars Sprint finalists through heat two of the feature, this time with Halse finishing on top.
Chris Hale's King Tommy had to come from behind to win after being more than six lengths off leaders Crumble Monelli and Electrified in the run.
But a surging late-race burst from King Tommy sealed the win, going past a fading Crumble Monelli, and holding out Electrified.
King Tommy beat Electrified by 0.25 lengths in 29.70, with Crumble Monellia hanging on for third a further 1.35 lengths away.
2023 Group 1 All Stars Sprint Heat 2 – King Tommy (29.70) T: Chris Halse
Again, all three of the greyhounds first across the line qualified for the final.
Coming to the final heat three, WA's undisputed sprinting king Elite Machine was the punter's elect, paying -222.22 with most of the better greyhound betting sites.
But all hope for a favourite victory looked dashed when Elite Machine went up with the lids and was shuffled back to second last at the winning post the first time around.
The Jamie Marsh-trained dual Group 1 winning greyhound was able to get himself to the outside entering the back straight, and that proved the winning move.
As the leaders bunched, Elite Machine was able to circle the field in the clean air and surged to the line to win by 0.75 lengths in 29.90 over Katchoo.
2023 Group 1 All Stars Sprint Heat 3 – Elite Machine (29.90) T: Jamie Marsh
While Elite Machine's 29.90 was the slowest of the three heats, there is no doubt that with a better getaway, he would have run a much more competitive time.
Along with the 2023 Group 1 Brisbane Cup at Albion Park, Elite Machine also won the 2023 Group 1 Perth Cup at Cannington, the Listed Lew Dorsa Memorial Trophy, and ran third in the inaugural The Sandgroper at Cannington.
The Daniel Williams-owned brindle dog has won $1,074,023 in prizemoney for connections.
While Shinners and Halse will start half of the Group 2 All Stars Sprint final next week, there is no doubt that the presence of Elite Machine casts a large shadow over their chances.