GREYHOUND trainer Gary Fahey has always wanted to win a Dowling McCarthy Hankook Tyres Devonport Cup and next week he gets his chance to realise that goal.
Fahey took three of his team to the meeting and all from the same litter (Mogambo-Dennes Point) and they all won their respective heats to progress to the final.
Some of the most experienced greyhound buffs could not remember three from the one litter making their way into a Group 3 final in Tasmania
Breaker’s Tip was the first from the litter to earn a final berth with an emphatic all-the-way win and then his brother defied a tardy start to round up the leaders and forge clear in the home straight to register an impressive win.
Breaker’s Tip ran the 452-metre journey in 25.58 while Bruny Venture stopped the clock at 25.55.
Rip and Tear worked hard from box seven to eventual find the front and went on to win by over a length but he was the slowest of the seven heat winners clocking a pedestrian 25.96.
The fastest heat winner was the Ted Medhurst-trained Prescribe that gave the in-form Senor Slamma four lengths start but somehow managed to overhaul the favourite and win by three lengths in a tome of 25.33.
Senor Slamma scraped into the =final as the fastest runner-up and he faired well at the box draw as he will wear the pink vest in the final that will offer $25,000 to the winner.
Prescribe’s kennel mate Dark Vito then came out and rattled off a slick 25.37 which was outstanding given he raced wide to the home turn then produced a run home time of 12.87 seconds.
Her Highness was the only interstate-trained entry to make it to the final.
The Kelly Bravo-trained bitch matched motors with the well-backed odds-on favourite Sing The Song to the home turn before forgoing clear and went on to score by almost four lengths from Star Chamber in a time of 25.37.
Her Highness is owned in Victoria by Peter Westerveld and was formerly trained in Tasmania by Keith Nichols and while in his care she won 10 of 16 before heading Bravo’s kennel.
The Robin Grubb –trained bitch Pipstar earned her place in the final with a game heat win over Minnie Mogul that headed Pipstar halfway up the home straight but Grubb’s bitch fought back to notch a game win.
Box Draw for the Group 3 Devonport Cup final:
1 – Her Highness.
2 – Dark Vito.
3 – Pipstar.
4 – Breaker’s Tip.
5 – Prescribe.
6 – Bruny Venture.
7 – Rip and Tear.
8 – Senor Slamma.