It’s match race time at The Q this Thursday night with four one-on-one battles to see who will be crowned the Group 2 Golden Ticket champ.
As an extra incentive, the winning greyhound – decided by the chaser who runs the fastest time among the four duels – will book their spot in February 5’s Group 1 Gold Bullion, worth a whopping $250,000 to the winner.
Who will be crowned champ? Let’s have a look at the quartet of match races….
Match race 1: Vista Weird (box one) v Tarawi Buster (box three)
A battle of north versus south kicks off the series, with the speedy local Tarawi Buster taking on Victorian Vista Weird. You would expect Tarawi Buster to lead and his PB sits around the 29.60 mark, which may not be enough to hold out the powerhouse from down south. Vista Weird was far from disgraced behind Irish Bill last week and you’d think he’d gain benefit from the run.
Match race 2: Accredited (box one) v Sooty Keeping (box three)
What a race. The Group 1 Hume Cup champ Accredited takes on one of the more credentialled Group performers of recent years. A lot hinges on what Accredited can bring to the table early. In Melbourne he was beginning very well, setting up a run in the Melbourne Cup after a very good first split. He can also miss the start, which certainly opens the door for Sooty Keeping. If she can lead Accredited she will prove very hard to run down, but you couldn’t imagine there being much between the two of these at the finish.
Match race 3: Daysea’s Rory (box one) v Winsome Jet (box three)
Another absolute cracker. Only 0.01 separated these two in the qualifiers, with Winsome Jet sticking his head out on the line to continue his winning ways. It looks as if we have a clear leader in Daysea’s Rory, but will he be able to turn the tide and hold off Winsome Jet this time around? Both are big time performers and we expect another grand finish.
Match race 4: Irish Bill (box one) v Tempting Dash (box three)
The two most impressive heat winners from last week face off in the final match race, and it will be worth the wait. Tempting Dash handled the rise from racing against her age and sex in last week’s four-dog field, dominating early before running a sensational 29.29 to underline her ability. Irish Bill was equally impressive. He was checked on the first corner but held his line to lead and eventually win in 29.36, getting to the line a length better than Tempting Dash. If he can hold Tempting Dash out on the first corner then he looks the winner, but she did record a better first split last week, making for one hell of a battle.
*The first match race(race 9) is set down for 9.01pm local time
