Meadows kick off 2021 Group greyhound racing with G1 Silver Chief

What 2021
Where Melbourne Greyhound Racing Club – 80 Northcorp Bvd Broadmeadows, Victoria, 3047, Australia
When Saturday, January 2, 2021
Prizemoney $100,000 to the winner
Group Status Group 1
Distance 525m
Conditions Open to the best nominated male greyhounds whelped after June 1 2018
Previous Winner (29.67 sec) | Trainer: David Burnett

Australian greyhound racing's first Group 1 of the 2021 greyhound racing calendar year will be run on Saturday night when the $142,750 Silver Chief Classic Final (525m) will take place at The Meadows.

The $100,000 to-the-winner Silver Chief is an age-restricted classic open to male greyhounds only.

Eight heats were conducted last Saturday, with Earn The Answers posting the fastest time of the night in 29.62sec.

Saturday's final is an extremely open betting race, with Earn The Answers ($5.50) fourth in the TAB fixed odds market behind Lakeview Walter ($3.20), Equalizer ($3.50) & Papi Go Fast ($4.20) two days out from the race.

Lakeview Walter will also go in as sentimental favourite as he is the first group finalist for trainer Monique Whelan and her young family, who are based in the Gippsland town of Metung and live and breathe greyhound racing.

The second fastest heat winner in 29.67sec, Lakeview Walter is the youngest greyhound in the final at just 20 months of age, and he's also the least experienced with just six starts (four wins) to his name.

The -trained Papi Go Fast, named after Ryan Papenhuyzen of the Melbourne Storm, boasts 14 wins from 20 starts and has been well supported by punters since drawing Box 1.

Papenhuyzen, a registered greyhound owner, was judged best afield in the 2020 NRL Grand Final.

has two runners in the final – and Equaliser. Remarkably, Thompson has won the Silver Chief five times dating back to 1994 (), while wife Seona won in 2018 with Out Of Range.

No other trainer involved in the final has won the Silver Chief before.

Anakie couple and Jeff Britton have three runners between them including , who if successful will make it a hat-trick of Silver Chief victories for champion sire Barcia Bale.

First run in 1964, the Silver Chief is a proven platform to superstardom, particularly in recent years with the past four winners going on to taste further success at Group 1 level.

Recent Silver Chief winners and their Group 1 victories:

  • 2017 Lightning Frank (G1 Silver Chief / G1 Temlee)
  • 2018 Out Of Range (G1 Silver Chief / G1 )
  • 2019 Barooga Brett (G1 Silver Chief / G1 Temlee)
  • 2020 Simon Told Helen (G1 Silver Chief / G1 / G1 Harrison-Dawson / G1 Maturity Classic)

2021 Silver Chief Betting & Odds

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments