Tzouvelis’ stranglehold on Ipswich Past Members Trophy continues
Amendola saluted in the Past Members Trophy Final at Ipswich, to make it three straight victories in the feature, for the Tzouvelis-Cutlack training team on Thursday night.
The Tom Tzouvelis-trained chaser lined up in the 630m final as a $5.50 chance with greyhound bookmakers, with the Tony Zammit-trained Valpolicella the $2.45 race favourite.
Jumping from box two, Amendola punched through on the rail soon after box rise to take the lead, with Valpolicella falling to the rear.
Around the final corner, Amendola kicked away into the straight to beat Springtime Gold ($5.50) by two lengths in 36.99.
Titanium Gunn ($4) finished third, with the fast-finishing Valpolicella travelling wide to finish fourth.
2023 Ipswich Past Members Trophy – Amendola (36.99) T: Tom Tzouvelis
The sub-37 winning time smashed down his previous best of 37.25, clocked last week, in the Past Members Trophy heats, when beating Springtime Gold on that occasion also.
The Past Members Trophy Final has been a happy hunting ground for Tzouvelis and training partner Jedda Cutlack, having the past three winners with Amendola joining She’s Sweet (2022) and Sunburst (2021) on the honour board.
Earlier this year, on May 25, Amendola pipped Bogie Hurricane by 0.13 of a length to take out the Listed QGold Emerging Stayers Final at Albion Park.
Bogie Hurricane was surrounded by controversy around his heat win of the Past Members Trophy last week, with it being deemed a no race, resulting in he and trainer Ryan Ayre being left without a start in the $30,000-to-the-winner final.
From a 2021 litter of eight by Maurice Minor and out of Soft Sand, Amendola is the most successful with 11 wins and 12 minor placings from 45 career starts and has earned $112,300 in prize money for his syndication ownership.