Maxy Rhythm Bounces Back Mandurah specialist Maxy Rhythm has a reputation for charging home over 405m at Mandurah. In tonight’s Sprinter Gold Bridge Stake the Barragup trained chaser began a lot faster than usual and settled in second position at the first turn behind rank outsider Rapid Octane. Two other dogs were heavily supported, namely Smart Guess (box 8) and Diva Shiraz (box 3) and both began poorly and were shuffled out the back. On straightening Maxy Rhythm challenged Rapid Octane powerfully and he sustained the run to score by half a length. The Jim Rennick prepared greyhound brought up his eighth win from seventeen starts over the distance and returned $10 on tote. Rapid Octane filled second at $7.80 a place and last year’s Birthday Cup winner Country Shark finished a close up third. The Quartet dividend returned a whopping $7,512 with the WA TAB.[View Replay]Screamer Turns Tables Veteran speedster Two Pot Screamer bounced back tonight against his more fancied rivals Marbro Man and Rudge. The ‘Screamer’ had led at his past four starts over 405m before being overtaken on each occasion, finishing 2nd, 3rd, 2nd and 2nd. Tonight he pinged to the front again but his arch rivals Marbro Man and Rudge settled in 2nd and 3rd respectively. As they straightened Marbro Man made ground and loomed large along the fence but Two Pot Screamer answered the challenge and pulled away to win by a length. The winning time of 22.67 was well outside of his best (22.45) but it was a gritty performance that brought up an astonishing win number 32. He is raced by A and P Haines and is prepared by Linda Britton. Britton’s other ‘gun’ beginner in the kennel Uno Reltub carries the hopes of WA in tomorrow night’s Perth Cup Final. He will jump from box six and if successful will pocket connections a cool $140,000.[View Replay]Rolling Drums Wins Cup The Dawesville Cup was first run back in 1999 when Christine Robartson prepared Ruling Reason to victory over the old 530m distance. Linda Britton took out the event from 2000 to 2003 and this evening was shooting for her fifth triumph with Few Too Many (box 1) and Izzy’s Girl (box 2). However fastest qualifier and race favourite Rolling Drums was to spoil her party from box eight. The Eric Campana trained sprinter began well from the wide draw but was posted wide as the field entered the back straight and Few Too Many had established a five length break. As they left the back straight Rolling Drums was a clear second and eating into the lead. On straightening Rolling Drums was within a length and over the last thirty metres the greyhounds were matching strides. It was so close that the judge opted to put a ‘P’ in the scoreboard while he looked at the print, but after about twenty seconds a number ‘8’ replaced the ‘P’. Rolling Drums was deemed the winner over Few Too Many and Izzy’s Girl was a fast finishing third. A huge roar could be heard around the venue when the winning connections, the Hotdog Racing Syndicate realised they had won. The son of Over Flo has now won 7 of 9 starts in WA since coming from New South Wales.[View Replay]Greyhounds to Follow:
Didn’t have much luck and did well to finish fourth. Recent form is better than it looks on paper. Offers value over the next couple of weeks especially if he draws near the fence.
Often starts under the odds and tonight she was again backed into a short favourite. However she hit the line strongly and should win next week.
Hadn’t raced since last July but blew away rivals in a blistering 27.53. Outstanding prospect for Jim Rennick.Ryan Levitzke (Commentator)