Memorial Heats Provide The Ideal Comeback For Vocal Enforcer

The fourth and final heat of the W.A Bred, Sandi's Me Mum Memorial, proved to be the ideal comeback platform for the 2011 Greyhound of the Year, Vocal Enforcer. Having been struck down by injury, the talented son of and She's Vocal was unable to contest the Sky Channel Perth Cup. Luckily however, Andrew McLaren's kennel star seems to have lost none of its chasing ability, when it scored in 30.41 on Saturday night.

Amazingly the race was the first time that Vocal Enforcer had worn the red vest in its 44-start career, and it made full use of the premier draw, burrowing underneath Lightning Dancer and Black Wolf, who had headed him in the early stages.

Veteran chaser, Surf a Coin ran an admirable race from box six, pushing Vocal Enforcer all the way, eventually going down by less than a length, and qualifying for the final.

Eclipsing the time of Vocal Enforcer was another big name in WA Racing, Mini Emily. The -race finalist had been quiet of late after taking a couple of months off at the start of 2012. In recent weeks, the daughter of and Austin Lee had run down the track twice in March, with a win at Mandurah in between.

Saturday night however, the super-quick dog that we know can rip around returned with a 30.40 win from box seven. The dog has always had an affinity for outside boxes, with eight of her twelve career victories now coming from box six or wider, although she found herself in an interesting position on Saturday, having to rail up underneath Adjustable down the back.

Nonetheless it was all too easy for Jamie Marsh's classy bitch and she will prove hard to stop from another wide draw next week. Adjustable kicked on to earn its' spot in the final, holding off the evergreen Uno Reltub in the final stages.

While Kalden Athena spent much of her 2011 campaign interstate, connections will be glad to see that she is still an excellent sprinter on home soil.

Once a placegetter at , the daughter of and Abbadale Gold had been tried over the staying journeys but mixed results has seen the bitch return to the 530m races in recent times. It may prove to be a wise move, as Kalden Athena was strong enough to come from third spot to claim a heat of the Sandi's Me Mum memorial in a super finish.

With Bomber Command and Ballyduff looking to have the race between them turning for home, the fawn Dan Biddle-trained bitch came three-wide to charge over the top, registering a time of 30.73 in the process.

Bomber Command was then fortunate enough to beat Ballyduff to the line, giving Tom Williams and sire Attack a feature race finalist.

Completing the final field will be Al's Special and Valdahree who actually qualified in the opening heat of the night. Without some of the big names seen in the other heats, Al's Special was able to take control shortly after settling and run away in 30.69 in a fairly dominant display.

Barry Macpherson will have two runners for the final as Valdahree kicked back to head off Uno Mac and then survive a late charge from Bee to You for the second qualifying position. It was beaten just over 2 lengths on the line.

The final box draw has been conducted, and has what should be a great race. Al's Special's trainer Bill Skipper will be rapt after his charger drew box one again, especially after he used it so effectively in the heat. Mini Emily will again appreciate the wide draw, while Vocal Enforcer has to break free from box four.

Sandi's Me Mum Memorial Final Box Draw

1) Al's Special – Bill Skipper
2) Valdahree – Barry Macpherson
3) Surf A Coin –
4) Vocal Enforcer – Andrew McLaren
5) Bomber Command – Tom Williams
6) Mini Emily – Jamie Marsh
7) Kalden Athena – Dan Biddle
8) Adjustable – Barry Macpherson

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