Typhoon Sammy wins 2022 Group 2 Bendigo Cup for $100k collect
‘Country Cups' king, Typhoon Sammy; won the $50,000 t0-the-winner 2022 Bendigo Cup (425m) on Friday night and collected a $50,000 bonus in prizemoney for winning a third country cup final within the same year.
The Jason Thompson-trained greyhound added the Bendigo Cup to his Group 2 Traralgon Cup and Group 2 Horsham cup wins earlier this year, and earned the Greyhound Racing Victoria (GRV) $50,000 bonus in the process. The bonus is available to any greyhound who can win three country cups in the same calendar year.
The country cups bonus has only ever been won once before by Ferdinand Boy in 2021,
Owned by the Dart family, Typhoon Sammy has now won 38 races from 61 career starts, with a further 14 placings and $288,600 in stakes money.
Ironically, John Dart has since revealed he almost sold the reigning Bendigo track record holder (23.28) as a young pup but the buyers baulked at the $80,000 sale price. That price tag now seem cheap with a stud career beckoning and almost $300,000 in the bank.
For Jason Thompson it was his fifth Bendigo Cup after wins with El Galo (2008), Peggy May (2012), Ronan Izmir (2013) and Aston Bolero (2016).
The son of Aston Dee Bee and Zabaleta was always going to be hard to beat after drawing box three in the final, and coming in to the race with easily the fastest first sectional time from last week's heats of 6.37.
The Anthony Azzopardi-trained Salad Dodger finished two lengths away in second place, while Quinlan Bale finished a neck away third.
Fastest Bendigo Cup heat winner Panadero Warrior could not overcome the obstacle that the move to box six represented in the final, finishing in last place.
2022 Group 2 Bendigo Cup (425m) – Typhoon Sammy (23.53) Trainer: Jason Thompson
John Dart has revealed that Typhoon Sammy will pursue the 2022 Group 1 Melbourne Cup before heading to Tasmania for a tilt at the time-honoured Group 1 Hobart Thousand.
While no decision has been made about when Typhoon Sammy will retire to stud, Dart has confirmed the greyhound will stand at stud with current trainer Jason Thompson.