Emma Pritchard

The last regional heats of the Thunderbolt series were hosted by the Grafton Greyhound Racing Club during their June 11 race meeting, and there was plenty of cheering and celebrating as local trainers and their star performers lit up the track.

Following the late scratching of Big Town Peppa, 31 high class greyhounds competed across four 350m heats, each one looking to qualify for the Thunderbolt semi-finals, and the chance to compete in the $75000 Thunderbolt final on June 24.

Jumping brilliantly from box 1, Rushforth Ally became the first greyhound to qualify for the semi-finals when he scorched to the line to win the first heat in a smart time of 19.90 seconds for popular Clarence Valley trainer Desmond Winters.

Heat 2 was won by visiting Western Australian greyhound Crumble Monelli, who brought strong form into the race following dominating wins in the Western Australian Derby over 520m and the Mandurah Derby over 509m.

Despite missing the jump slightly from box 8, Crumble Monelli showed his brilliance to dart through the field in the home straight and win the heat in a time of 20.13 seconds.

Heat 3 produced the most impressive winner on the program when Vamoose, owned and trained by Susan Smith, raced straight to the lead from box 1 and kicked clear inside the final 50m, racing home in 19.79 seconds, the fastest heat of the night.

The final place in the semi-finals went to Cash Destroyer who defeated a strong field in the fourth and final heat of the night, when holding on to beat a gallant Super Shanks and Impress Dressel.

Owned and trained by Robert Cooke, Cash Destroyer raced home in a time of 20.00 seconds.

President of the Grafton Greyhound Racing Club John Corrigan said it was great to see so many classy greyhounds compete in the Thunderbolt heats, and said he is looking forward to the semi-finals on the weekend.

“They’ll be some good dogs lining up,” he revealed.

Rushforth Ally, Crumble Monelli, Vamoose, and Cash Destroyer will head to the boxes for the Thunderbolt semi-finals to be hosted by the Grafton Greyhound Racing Club on June 18, where they will be joined by the winners of other regional Thunderbolt heats.

The final fields for the Thunderbolt semi-finals are expected to be announced on June 15.