Emma Pritchard
Classy dog Blaze A Trail trounced a quality field of competitors to win one of the feature events on the program, the GRNSW Jacaranda Maiden Final over 450m during the Grafton Greyhound Racing Club’s November 13 race meeting.
Jumping smartly from box 7, Blaze A Trail shared the early lead alongside Marinus inside the first 100m, while race favourite All Lies Ahead struck trouble and found itself towards the rear of the field.
Trained by Andrew and Sarah Monaghan, Blaze A Trail powered ahead in the home straight to win the feature by a widening margin of four and a half lengths in a sharp time of 25.34 seconds.
Marinus kept chasing determinedly to finish second ahead of Over Thinking, who charged home to run third.
All Lies Ahead finished fourth.
The Robert Cooke trained Cash Master proved too strong for his rivals in the second feature of the night, the GRNSW 5th Grade Series Final over 450m.
A clear favourite with punters, Cash Master was crunched into $1.30 prior to the race start and didn’t let his supporters down.
Jumping cleanly from box 1, the red fawn dog shot straight to the front and surged ahead of Raw Honey and Jimary Montana, who tried to match the early leader.
After opening up a six-length margin mid race, Cash Master continued to kick strongly to race home in a time of 25.10 seconds, just shy of Cash View’s track record of 25.01 seconds.
A promising dog with a bright future, the victory was Cash Master’s sixth in a row, and he now boasts an impressive overall record of seven wins and three minor placings from 10 career starts.
After recapturing his form at the Grafton Greyhound Racing Club’s previous race meeting on November 6, popular local dog Orara Dan recorded back-to-back wins in the 2GF/FM104.7 Clarence Valley Free For All over 450m.
After breaking sharply out of box 5, Orara Dan pounced on the early lead and continued to draw clear to record his 22nd career victory at start number 44.
As he celebrated the win, trainer Gary Smith said it was pleasing to see Orara Dan return to form and regain his confidence on the track.
The Grafton Greyhound Racing Club will host their next race meeting on November 20.
The feature race on the program is the Ladbrokes 1-2 Wins Final over 350m.
The race has attracted a strong field of qualifiers including Rushforth Ally, Zambora Fletch and Sandave Baer.