Shootout Hero’s Melbourne Cup Draw A Concern

“Box eight is never great at Sandown.” That’s the major concern for trainer Jason Sharp as Victoria’s sprinter-of-the-moment Colac Kid strives to continue his spectacular streak at Sandown Park in Saturday night’s Group 1 Sportsbet Melbourne Cup heats (515m).

Dominant winner of the Group 3 Shootout at Sandown last Friday, Colac Kid is one of the headline acts at the meeting widely regarded as the best on the Australian greyhound racing calendar.

Emphasising his surge to star billing, Colac Kid went through his paces with another running machine from Geelong, Cats AFL best and fairest Max Holmes, in the countdown to the cut-throat Cup heats.

Colac Kid has smashed the clock in each of his last three visits to Sandown.

A son of the great Fernando Bale, runner-up in the epic 2015 Melbourne Cup, Colac Kid posted 29.04sec and 29.16sec in heat and final of the G2 Cranbourne Cup before careering away with the four-sprinter Shootout in 29.20sec.

“It’s always been there,” Jason Sharp said from Hong Kong on Thursday, wrapping up a holiday that featured a “bucket list” visit to Sha Tin on Wednesday night.

“He ran in the 29.50s twice at The Meadows earlier in the year, so the ability is there. He is a fast dog on the bunny.

“He had a little bit of a hiccup after the Brisbane Cup heats, when they cancelled the final because of the track.

“Both our dogs, Colac Kid and Morton, pulled up ordinary after the heats. Morton was never the same again and it took us a while to get Colac Kid back to the top of his game. I think he’s there now!

“I was very confident going into the Shootout. He was the most experienced dog, all he had to do was get to the first turn and be first through the pen and he did that.”

Striving to extend his Sandown picket-fence to four, Colac Kid has been handed no favours in Saturday’s third Cup heat, drawn in box eight, with main threat Deadly Avenger to exit one.

As a result of their starkly contrasting box draw fortunes, Deadly Avenger is Sportsbet’s $2.90 favourite, with Colac Kid $4.60.

Winner of six from 12 at Sandown, Colac Kid appears value at $23 in ‘All In’ betting.

“Box eight is never great at Sandown – or anywhere else, really,” Sharp said.

“But I don’t mind it in this race.

“He has a couple of speed dogs drawn underneath him that want the rails, so I’m hoping they’ll drag him over and bring him into the race.”

After Colac Kid missed a G1 Topgun invitation at the start of the Dream Chasers Festival, Sharp is hopeful rather than confident of boosting claims for a slot in The Phoenix during the Cup series.

“Not really,” Sharp said of interest from Phoenix slot holders.

“I’ve only spoken to one (slot holder). I thought he was pretty stiff not to make the Topgun.

“I think he would be in the top half-dozen sprinters going around at the moment, but that’s for others to judge.”

If Colac Kid qualifies for Saturday week’s $500,000 to-the-winner Cup Final, he’ll present the Sharp family with their second finalist, Kouta Mayhem finishing third in 2017.

Meanwhile, Sharp’s first G1 winner, now-retired superstar Morton, became a father for the third time this week, with G1 placegetter Lets Win Coin, which was also trained by the Sharp family, producing a ‘homegrown’ litter.

Written by Gerard Guthrie, The Greyhound Recorder.