Tasracing

On Thursday night, three Victorians – including Australia’s number one sprinter Hooked On Scotch – line up in the $75,000 to-the-winner Hobart Thousand but their claim for the major end of the prize is tenuous.

First run as the Hobart Cup in 1935 over 410 yards at the Tasmanian Cricket Association ground and then the Hobart Thousand from 1939, offering £500 to the winner – it was the richest race in the land.

By 1942, the trip was up to 525 yards and in 1946 – after a hiatus for WWII – the prize elevated to £1000, again a record by a clear margin.

The spoils represented enough money to put a significant deposit on a home in Hobart at the time.

Tasmanian greyhound racing historian and omnipresent trial watcher Greg Fahey considers this rendition of the Hobart Thousand to be within the keeping of local sprinters.

“I’ve got no doubt, Raging Ralston and Stanley Gordon are the two quickest dogs in the race,” Fahey declared.

“The Victorians will consider the view biased, but the pair have run the two quickest times ever on the track and are super strong. Raging Ralston will get back but he’s a powerhouse and has won 10 from 12 at the track.”

Jason Thompson’s Group 1 winner Hooked On Scotch had not trialled in Hobart before his second to fellow Victorian Grey Ghost in his 25.74 heat and there will be scope for improvement yet Fahey asserts, as a short priced favourite, the Sandown track record holder is a genuine risk.

“The dog on Hooked On Scotch’s inside (Atley Quick) is very quick to begin and a determined railer. Hooked On Scotch should track that fellow and Stanley Gordon (box three) gets wide but I still can’t get excited about Hooked On Scotch,” Fahey said.

“Atley Quick does not look strong enough to hold his rivals out and, if Stanley Gordon or Raging Ralston gets room to move early on, but it will be tough for others to get into the fray.

“And then there is Tiggerlong Tonk!

“He trialled 25.66 here before the heats in a public trial then shaved .11s off that to be the fastest heat winner.

“Unless Stop Line (box 8) barrels him at box rise, he’s got a genuine chance to lead and last week’s winning time says he can hold them at bay.”

Only 22 months of age, Tiggerlong Tonk, a son of Dyna Double One, handled box eight like a veteran in his heat but there is more depth to the opposition this time.

Stop Line secured his fifth successive win last week, despite rising four years of age, fresh off his Devonport Chase victory, the son of St. Pierre is also in the mix for his second Hobart Thousand Final berth.

So where does that leave the freakish exploits of Hooked On Scotch?

“He will need a career best effort, and then some, to win in my view,” Fahey added, “but what he delivered at Angle Park in the Adelaide Cup Final in October was remarkable yet there will be no room for error.

“It’s a hot field and Hooked On Scotch may well win but he’s just under the odds and far as I’m concerned and people are underestimating the genuine quality of the local sprinters.”