Hifi Allegro
**NZ's Undisputed Number One Sprinter.
*Current (Joint)Track Record Holder 318m..18.02 sec.
*Current NZ Greyhound Of Year
*Titleholder Of NZ's Top Two Sprint Races:Group2 Railway at Manukau.Group 2 Galaxy at Addington.
*Current winning sequence x 8.
On target to win back to back Railways during upcoming Auckland Cup Week.
Varvatos
**NZ's Undisputed Number One Stayer.
*Current Track Record Holder 779m..46.15 sec.
*Reigning holder Duke Of Edinburgh Silver Collar.
Set to resuming racing after 6month layoff,targeting Auckland Cup.Has been trialling impressively recently.
Tricky Shelley
**Ranks Amoungst Top Greyhounds In NZ.
*Waterloo Cup Group 1 Manukau.
*Winner 20/32 Career Starts.
*Ranks Alongside Best Through Kennels Of Ray Adcock.
*Set to chase Auckland Cup Glory.
SISTER CITIES CUP *** BRIGHT NEW STAR ON RACING CALENDAR
The NZ/Australia Sister City Concept was pioneered by Christchurch/Adelaide Clubs,and first held in 2000 at Angle Park.Token Token-Red Hot Zinger-Go Jenny Go-Denzil Bale provided a surprise Kiwi First Four,and set the foundation whereby Christchurch Dogs were
victorious in all but one subsequent running.
However financial constraints placed its future in jeopardy,and the addition of Brisbane and Auckland Clubs has installed fresh life into its future.
Visiting Australian Trainers hosted by Phil Green and Thayne Green.
Weekend Festivities began with a meet'n greet dinner Saturday Night at Manukau Stadium,with 50plus in attendance.Great to see such a strong Christchurch Contingent,including Geoff McKenzie,Peter Rosanowski,Murray Wigley,Tony Music,Robin Wales,Nick
Thackwell...Australian Owner Paul Dwyer..Visiting Punting Enthusiasts 'Beven-Slug-Daveyboy-Moany'.
At Evenings End,Some chose to continue festivities at Sky City,where Robin Wales drove and took route via Harbour Bridge.Memo to Robin-there is a shorter/quicker way!
SUNDAY 27 SEPTEMBER:SISTER CITIES CUP DAY
Weather Gods smiled,and a large crowd provided a buzz and atmosphere rarely seen at Manukau.
The Box Draw gave Australians Traps 1-2-3-4,and Bookies Final Market saw their entrants Aunty Vick-Bogie Blue-Scheckler Bale as first three favourites.Only local GOTY Magic Spike attracted strong support.
The Fahey Kennel provided the previous winner with Champion Winsome Ashley,and were represented by Watmough/Winsome Bucks.They happened to be somewhere in Ireland when Heats were held,but Dave and Jean timed their return to oversee final preparations.
WATMOUGH (30.22) led from the jump,and headed the charge into the first bend from locals FANCY SHELLY and MAGIC SPIKE.The only change to this order was when Magic Spike ran into second up the home straight.WINSOME BUCKS was the only runner to makeup any
ground,and completed a Kiwi 1-2-3-4 finish.
It was an excited set of connections atop the winners dias,and great result for the host club,with Board Members Craig Rendle and Brad Jackson enjoying their biggest race success to date.'Kunta' and 'Widey' wore custom made shirts for the occassion,and
looked a resplendent sight!
MAGIC SPIKE freshly crowned Auckland Greyhound Of The Year,and in the twilight of his racing career,was a courageous second.
FANCY SHELLY ran up to her best,and was a game third.
**Great Day for Craik Kennels..Winning Hat Trick
EMBEZZLEMENT (30.62)..got fav punters off to a winning start,when pinging the traps and leading throughout over kennelmate MADDER THAN and DOLLY BREEN.A minor feature was the effort of TALEVERO,who walked out several lengths last,then made huge ground to finish
4th.The winner is a son of Ex Track Record and Auckland Cup Winner Idol Appeal,and Breeder/Co Owner Tom Rodewald was oncourse to enjoy the moment.
VIREYA (30.69)..had arrived at the winning post a stride too late last week when warmly supported.Today settled handy and divebombed leader SUB CLASS in impressive style at amazing odds $19.80.Winning Owner John Roberts also enjoyed delight in seeing RIDDLE
MAN surge home strongly into 3rd.Injury has curtailed this Group One Winner (2009 Wellington Cup),and dropped a couple of grades..but it seems a win is close at hand.
Visiting Hot Fav PERFECT TOKEN went up with the lids,bounced off the rail and shunted out of contention by first bend.
RASMAH (30.18)..was back to his brilliant best.Rearwards into the first bend,began a sustained run that took him into third spot turning for home.He then powered to the line reeling in talented leaders APPOINTED THYME and SEASWIFT.Another winning photo for John
Roberts and partners,including Mark McMillan.
**New Zealand Racing Series Distance Heats 779m
Two seven dog heats over the extreme distance.
TEEGAN (46.91)..took time to find her feet early,enjoyed an economical trip,made a strong foward move down the back to stride into the lead and power away for an emphatic victory for Arch Lawrence.Surprise early leader CALM RIP boxed on for 2nd,while versatile TIGGER
FOOT kept on for 3rd.Major disappointment was equal fav KNOW BEST,a recent Kingston Cup Heat Winner at Addington.After disputing the early pace,she was a spent force well before home,but qualified for final by virtue of her 4th placing.
KITTY'S THUNDER (46.98) and SHEA SHERIE were dominant favs,having both qualified as Silver Collar Finalists earlier in the year.It was second public elect Kitty's Thunder who speared to an early lead,but when Shea Sherie loomed up approaching the home turn,Kitty
continued with grim determination to register a deserved victory.Sth Island visitor MR BONZALES was prominent throughout and battled into 3rd,whilst CD visitor IN THE BIN managed to be 4th qualifier.
NOTE..Kitty's Thunder has untimely come into season,and will thus miss the final.Back luck Henni,she promised to be hard to beat.
**Other Winners.
WINSOME OPAWA (30.73) Spiral Nikita-Winsome Gem..earns $400 NZ Bred Bonus.
Making his track debut,and hottest fav of day ($1.30 Tote: $1.15 Bookies)..gave supporters an early heart flutter with only an average beginning.Drove up to sit outside leader KARATA ROAD out of the first bend,before taking control down the back and never threatened
thereafter.Having qualified at Addington 295m in a sizzling 17.18,seems set to have a bright future for the Opawa/Fahey combination.
Runnerup Karata Road,a beaten fav his previous two starts,chased gamely to the line,and promises to win at short notice.
COLLECTION (30.69)..showed vast improvement on his disappointing NZ debut 6 weeks prior,when finding the early lead,and powering away for a 7L victory.Australian Part Owner Paul Dwyer and local Martin Fitzsimmons as well as Clan of Trainer Steve Clark made for a
delighted team on the dias.Fitzy enjoyed his first greyhound success last season with Anything Fitz,but Collection promises to provide many more winning thrills.
A sad postrace aftermath,with LAZENBYfinishing 5th,then dropping dead prior to the lure.A post-mortem was to be held.Commiserations to connections.
TESS TOKAAM (18.26)..has compiled a terrific record at Manukau,winning 25/48,so no surprise that she sprung to the lead early and never gave her rivals any sniff of the bunny.Maintaining a greater than 50 percent wins to starts ratio.Awesome.
WILD FLYNN (18.61)..tote suggested this the most even race of the day,and so it proved,with just 1.5L covering the first five runners home.Wild Flynn was rewarded for recent consistency,and O'Regan Camp gained some compensation after losing a dog earlier.DAVINCI has
jumped a couple of grades quickly,but made a good fist of his C4 debut in running 2nd.
**A Terrific Day's Racing..and Club rewarded with Oncourse Turnover in excess $63,000.
**More Group Action Next Sunday..with Time Honoured Waterloo Cup Final.
