Tremendous Finish to All-Star Sprint Final
Western Australian greyhound fans were fortunate enough to witness a tremendous finish to race 5 at Cannington last night, in what was an excellent Group 2 All-Star Sprint final.
Worth $40,000 to the winner, the All-Stars is the state's second richest race behind the Perth Cup and is quickly forming a notable history. On-track announcer, Peter O'Neil, set the scene at the start of the event, highlighting that grand chasers Sandi's Me Mum, Reggemite and Miss Slick all hold their place on the honour roll, while the flying Queenslander Queen Lauryn held the race record set back in 2009.
There was to be no race record this year, however that didn't stop the Andrew McLaren trained Vocal Enforcer making the 2011 version a race to remember.
Showing $10.10 on the local TAB, the son on Black Enforcer and She's Vocal wasn't given much respect in betting. Neither were many other runners for that matter, as Paul Stuart's up-and-comer, Miata, stifled the market as $1.70 favourite.
Punters who took the short quote about the youngster were soon feeling some remorse, as Miata didn't begin well and was soon crowded back towards the tail with a lap to go.
Linda Britton's runner, Not In Kansas made full use of the rails draw and fired out to lead, with the evergreen Spring Legend stepping well, looking to cross. It wasn't long until Vocal Enforcer worked its way into second and set out to catch Not In Kansas, who was doing as pleased at the half way point.
The field was shuffling and bunching behind the leading trio, giving Miata no chance of using his amazing strength and all eyes were now on the front to see who would be the surprise victor.
Turning for home and Not in Kansas had set up a mighty lead – at least six lengths – but was starting to feel the effects of the journey. Spring Legend couldn't do any better at that stage, leaving Vocal Enforcer as the only one to make a contest.
With a flashing burst of fitness and determination, Vocal Enforcer ate up the ground in the run to the post and whizzed past Not In Kansas in time to steal the $40,000 by half a length for Owners P. and R. Noden in 30.34.
Blue Goose jumped out of the pack for third and proved he can still mix it with best, while Spring Legend was fourth. Ever Grace, Spring Ruler, Miata and Oliver Allen simply couldn't get a crack at them and rounded out the field.
Vocal Enforcer has been a wonderful greyhound over the past twelve months, racing on an almost weekly basis with amazing winning consistency. While his early speed may have waned slightly, his strength and ferocity to win from awkward positions has been a highlight to watch in recent times. This new feature win takes the career tally to nearly $130,000.
While Vocal Enforcer could lay claim to be the one of the most consistent winners in W.A, no-one could disagree with the accolades given to Pedrosa, who again showed why he is still considered the king of the Cannington circuit.
In his All-Stars sprint heat last week, the fawn chaser almost hit the deck due to a severe check that resulted in a short injury forced stand-down. But showing no signs of hesitation or after-effects, the superstar flew out form box five survived a late charge from the strong Surf A Coin. Stopping the clock in 30.36, the win was only fractionally slower than the All Stars Sprint final and showed there is still plenty of racing left in the legs of the Big Daddy Cool – Brooklyn Rain chaser.