A sunny Sunday afternoon at Capalaba greyhounds delivered a thrilling card of racing, with six heats of the Group 2 Capalaba Cup and two heats of the Bob Vernon Memorial run and won ahead of next weekend’s finals.
With $112,000 in prize money on the line in the Cup, competition was fierce as six heat winners and the two fastest seconds secured their place in the 366m final.
Trainer Jeff Crawford struck early with a dominant double.
Blue Blend ($1.30) justified favouritism in the opening heat, breaking clear in powerful fashion to notch his third win from his past four starts.
The Hooked On Scotch x Kiss and Cut chaser took out the Group 3 Origin Greyhound Series Match against Jungle Johnny in June this year to pocket $50,000.
Crawford then went back-to-back with Miles On It, who claimed the second heat.
“Very happy to have them both make the final after strong performances today,” Crawford said post race.
“Both have drawn poorly in the final (Blue Blend box 2 & Miles On It box 4) but very happy to be a part of such a nice race.”
The third qualifier was Daysea’s Kurt, trained by Claude Dacey, who finished strongly to reel in Mepunga Rocky.
Heat four went the way of the Tom Tzouvelis kennel, with Armarta delivering as favourite with a convincing win.
The Shima Shine x Femme Folle dog has five career starts for four wins and a placing, showcasing his consistency.
Serial Sticker impressed on his Capalaba debut in heat five, jumping from the green rug and fending off Alston after finding the lead.
Serial Sticker finished third in the Group 2 Healesville Cup Final last month, after finishing second in the National Straight Track Championship Final at the Q in August.
The final heat was dominated by Rio Will Rock, trained by Jason Schmidt, who exploded to the front and raced away to complete a polished performance.
In the Bob Vernon Memorial heats, the Tzouvelis team again featured heavily.
Pre-box rise favourite Surrealist ($2.30) had the market support in heat one, but it was kennelmate Zipping Kravitz ($8.50) who took charge after a clean start and powered home to win.
Heat two followed a similar script.
Well-backed debut winner Sheriff ($1.80) finished runner-up, while another Tzouvelis-trained runner, Zipping Saigo ($9.50), produced the upset from box seven.
Both finals are set for this Sunday, with last year’s honours still fresh in memory—Casey Dargusch’s Hook Me claiming the Bob Vernon Memorial, while Tzouvelis-trained Simply Express stormed to victory in the Capalaba Cup.
