The Phoenix field finalised – Challenger Match Race greyhounds named
The final touches were made today to the field for the 2023 Phoenix to be held at The Meadows on Saturday night, with the naming of the two reserves who will be on standby should they be required.
The two reserve greyhounds will contest their own event, a head-to-head match race called the Challenger Match Race.
The Challenger Match Race in 2023 is worth $15,000 to-the-winner, down from last year's $20,000 first prize.
The reserve pool of greyhounds for The Phoenix was announced on Monday.
Representatives from both Greyhound Racing Victoria (GRV) and the Melbourne Greyhound Racing Association (MGRA) met an Wednesday, December 13, to determine the two Phoenix reserves.
The two greyhounds selected by the selection panel from the reserves pool for the 2023 Phoenix are Aussie Rocks and Transponder.
Transponder has been named as first reserve for the $1,000,000 to-the-winner Phoenix, while Aussie Rocks has been named in the race as second reserve.
The main body of the 2023 Phoenix slot race field was named and boxes drawn over the weekend.
Aussie Rocks is the recent Group 1 Melbourne Cup winner at Sandown, and was runner-up in the 2023 Group 1 National Sprint Championship final at The Meadows behind Saige Tenneile.
The Geoff Mitchell-trained son of Aussie Infrared and Amlin Jewel was a finalist in the 2023 Group 3 Silver Bullet at The Meadows in November.
Aussie Rocks has won 16 races from 37 starts, running a further 11 placings, and earned connections $767,935 in prizemoney.
At The Meadows, Aussie Rocks has had 14 starts for eight wins and four placings.
He will start from box one in the Challenger Match Race, a box from which he has started seven times for five wins and a placing.
Aussie Rocks is unbeaten in two starts when starting from box one at The Meadows over the 525m journey.
Aussie Rock's competition in the Challenger Match Race is the 2023 Group 1 Topgun and 2023 Group 1 Adelaide Cup winner, Transponder.
The two-time Group 1 winning greyhound ran third in the recent 2023 Group 3 Sandown Shootout behind Big Energy.
The son of Deliver and Unquestionably has had 43 starts for 21 wins and 13 placings.
At The Meadows, Transponder has had 10 starts, winning three and running four placings.
In the Challenger Match Race, Transponder will start from box three, the same box he won the Topgun from.
The Jason Thompson-trained greyhound has so far earned $447,775 in prizemoney for connections.
Greyhound betting sites updated the Phoenix odds to include the reserves and Transponder has been quoted at +1200 to win The Phoenix from first reserve, while Aussie Rocks has been backed in from +2500 to +1800 to win the race despite being the second reserve.
Greyhound betting apps have priced Transponder as -166.67 favourite to win the 2023 Challenger Match Race over Aussie Rocks, who is quoted at +135 to win the head-to-head race despite drawing his favourite box one.
2023 The Phoenix
2023 The Phoenix Box Draw & FieldMeadows525m Slot Race $1,000,000 to-the-winnerSaturday, December 16, 2023Race 109:50pm
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1 Pass The Buck
T: Anthony AzzopardiF: 1161Career: 10: 8-1-0Prizemoney: $31,260Slot Owner: TAB
+300
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2 Hector Fawley
T: Lisa Cockerell F: 1122Career: 43: 17-8-3Prizemoney: $249,795Slot Owner: Total Container Solutions
+350
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3 Alpha Zulu
T: Jason Thompson F: 1345Career: 23: 15-3-2Prizemoney: $225,925Slot Owner: Good Blokes Society
+300
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4 Postman Pat
T: Jason ThompsonF: 3271Career: 34: 23-5-2Prizemoney: $336,110Slot Owner: Greyhounds HQ
+400
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5 Schillaci
T: Jihad Talgi F: 1448Career: 18: 10-2-1Prizemoney: $72,455Slot Owner: Ladbrokes
+3000
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6 Wow She's Fast
+850
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7 Big Energy
T: Jackie Greenough F: 5112Career: 29: 14-7-0Prizemoney: $408,310Slot Owner: RSN
+500
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8 Jay Is Jay
T: Selena ZammitF: 1271Career: 37: 19-6-3Prizemoney: $1,419,250Slot Owner: Racing Queensland
+1300
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9 Transponder
T: Jason Thompson F: 1365Career: 43: 21-8-5Prizemoney: $447,775
+1200
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10 Aussie Rocks
T: Geoff Mitchell F: 8811Career: 37: 16-6-5Prizemoney: $767,935
+1800
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Odds correct at time of publication
2023 Challenger Match Race
2023 Challenger Match Race Box Draw & FieldMeadows525m Match Race $20,000 to-the-winnerSaturday, December 16, 2023Race 99:28pm
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1 Aussie Rocks
T: Geoff Mitchell F: 8811Career: 37: 16-6-5Prizemoney: $767,935
+135
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3 Transponder
T: Jason Thompson F: 1365Career: 43: 21-8-5Prizemoney: $447,775
-166.67
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Odds correct at time of publication