Valhalla wins inaugural 2024 Northern Rivers Cup final
Queensland trainer, Tom Tzouvelis, won the newest feature race in Northern NSW on Saturday night, April 20, when he took out the 2024 Northern Rivers Cup at Grafton over 450 metres with Valhalla.
The Northern Rivers Cup is the newest feature race for the Grafton greyhound track, and although it lacks any black type, the final is worth $50,000 to the winner.
In its inaugural running, the Northern Rivers Cup is already the premier 450 metre feature race at Grafton, worth even more than the Group 3 Grafton Cup, run over the same distance.
The race is now second only to the $75,000 to-the-winner short course sprint race at Grafton, The Thunderbolt, which is run over 350 metres and pays $75,000 to-the-winner.
This year's Northern Rivers Cup final was decided after two heats were run at Grafton, and two heats were run at Casino over 484 metres.
Greyhound punters sent the finalists to the boxes on Saturday night, making Valhalla the -142.86 race favourite with greyhound betting apps from box six.
That faith in the Tom Tzouvelis-trained greyhound was quicky rewarded at box-rise, when Valhalla burst to the lead after 100 metres and managed to get a one-length break over Albert's Memory and Isurava through the home corner.
In the straight, the $50,000 to-the-winner prize looked contestable until Valhalla quickly put a few lengths on his rivals with 50 metres to go.
Valhalla won the inaugural Northern Rivers Cup in 25.19, beating home Albert's Memory by 2.25 lengths, with Isurava a further length away in third.
2024 Northern Rivers Cup – Valhalla (25.19) T: Tom Tzouvelis
Valhalla adds the Northern Rivers Cup to his 2023 Group 2 Capalaba Cup title.
The son of Orson Allen and Femme Folle has now had 45 starts for 24 wins and 11 placings.
It is up the grass straight at Capalaba where the 31kg black dog really excels, having had 26 starts there for 21 wins and four second placings.
Tzouvelis plans to put Capalaba to the side of Valhalla's plans for the immediate future, saying he plans to tackle the 2024 Group 1 Brisbane Cup with him before heading toward the rich The Thunderbolt race at Grafton.
2024 Northern Rivers Cup
2024 Northern Rivers Cup Results Grafton 450m $50,000 to-the-winner Saturday, April 20, 2024 25.19
|
|
| 1st |
6 Valhalla
T: Tom Tzouvelis 25.19 – $50,000 -142.86
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| 2nd |
7 Albert's Memory
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| 3rd |
8 Isurava
T: Gary Smith 25.42 3.25 lengths $2,500 +1400
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| 4th |
1 Impress Deisel
T: Dave Irwin 25.54 5 lengths +380
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| 5th |
2 All Lies Ahead
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| 6th |
5 Queen Wok
T: Michael Landrigan 25.62 6 lengths +10000
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| 7th |
4 Kooringa Rafael
T: Stephen Casey 25.72 7.5 lengths +1500
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| 8th |
3 Blazing Bob
T: Michael Landrigan 26.04 12.25 lengths +2000
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