TALENTED sprinting greyhound Lovely Banks advanced to the final of the O’Driscoll Coaches Grade Five series final with an emphatic win in her heat at Tattersall’s Park in Hobart last Thursday night.
Lovely Banks ($2.70 fav) was only fairly away from box two but mustered speed quickly to assume control and once on the lure she sped clear and always had the race safely in her keeping.
The Ted Medhurst-trained bitch scored by almost three lengths from Rory Mac that tried valiantly all the way up the home straight to haul her in while Shotgun Annie meandered into third spot just six lengths astern.
Lovely Banks (Cosmic Chief-Peejay Tadmore, bred by her owner Debbie Cannan, stopped the clock at 26.14 which was clearly the fastest of the six heat winners.
She is one of a litter of six but the other five are unnamed.
Lovely Banks showed great potential from the outset scoring impressive on debut over 452 metres at Devonport clocking a slick 25.52 which was the best of the day.
After another win at the same venue she failed in Hobart and in Devonport before bouncing back at her sixth start with a convincing win in Hobart over Simpsons Bay in a juvenile over 461 metres.
While Lovely Banks was impressive there also was a lot to like about the effort of the runner-up Rory Mac that overcame difficulties early in the race to emerge from the pack to try and chase down the eventual winner.
The Eileen Thomas-trained Outside In kept his unbeaten record on the Hobart track intact with an impressive win in his heat.
Outside In (Fear Zafonic-Night Storm) began well from box seven to share the lead with Arnhem Villain (5) and they matched motors to the top turn before Outside In assumed control.
Thomas’ dog then slipped clear and hit the line four lengths clear of Arnhem Villain with the favourite almost a length away third.
Outside In ($4.50) stopped the cock at 26.36 which easily bettered the 26.55 he clocked at his only other run on the U-turn track which was over 340 metres on debut in June last year.
He suffered an injury after only his fourth start that kept him sidelined for three months.
Thomas has persevered with running him over the short courses this time in with his three starts prior to winning this O’Driscoll Series heat all over 298 metres in Launceston that produced a win and two seconds in four and five grades.
Hay Ty ($12) was the only outsider of the six heat winners but he won like a short-priced chance.
Hay Ty showed his customary good box manners to lead wearing the blue vest and after a duel with Zero Interest and Ruby Bailey the son of Vee Man Vane edged clear and had enough in reserve over the concluding stages to hold out Ruby Bailey by 2-1/2 lengths with Real Impact working home well to grab third but three lengths astern.
Hay Ty, owned in Victoria by Danny Loone, was having only his third start in the state having spent most of his racing life in Victoria where he had three wins on country tracks including a victory in a grade five at Warragul immediately before crossing Bass Strait to join the Leon Brazendale kennel.
Hay Ty showed good potential early on and while he had only three wins in his home state before travelling south to Tassie he was placed multiple times and could easily double his win tally very quickly in Brazendale’s care..
Hay Ty ran the 461 metres in 26.47 which was the third fastest of the six heats.
Explosive Gas clocked the slowest time of 26.72 at what was his second start in the state.
The Keith Nichols-trained dog is by boom sire Fabregas that won the National Sprint Championship in Hobart in 2012 after which he was dispatched to stud.
Explosive Gas began racing in Victoria when two unplaced runs at The Meadows before notching his first win at Warrnambool at his sixth start just prior to being dispatched to Tasmania.
Pelican Keeping and Buddy Good Boy won their heats to give popular trainer Susan Gittus two finalists.
Pelican Keeping (Cosmic Rumble-Sweet Fenoir) began well from box two to share the lead to the top turn before skipping clear and he went on to score by over 10 lengths from the favourite Half Century and Sonic Sprite.
The win was helped by interference with the favourite Half Century stopped in his tracks when dogs on his outside crossed down and this caused a concertina effect when left the leader well clear when he straightened for home.
Pelican Keeping went on to win by over 10 lengths from Half Century with Sonic Sprite over three lengths away third.
Pelican Keeping stopped the clock at 26.53 at what was his second win on the circuit and his fourth win since arriving from New South Wales in September last year.
Buddy Good Boy (Vellocette-Come Over Nova) made light of the squeeze box (5) to lead but he was joined then headed at the top turn by Sonic Fear that looked set to forge to the lead.
But just when Sonic Fear was being hailed the winner by the race caller Gittus’ dog dug deep to regain the lead and went on to score by over three lengths from Sonic Fear with Tricky Kid a head away third.
Buddy Good Boy is from an excellent litter that also comprises Groovy Lane that has won seven from 10 and Lillycette that was won half of her 24 starts and she recently broke the 599m track record in Hobart.
The six heat winners and two fastest seconds qualified for next Thursday night’s final.