Emma Pritchard

A week ago, he was listed as the second reserve for the hotly contested Village Green Hotel Grafton Cup Final.

And even in the days leading up to the race, his connections remained uncertain if he would gain a start.

But following the unfortunate scratching of Rushforth Ally and first reserve All Lies Ahead, talented greyhound Cash Master took his place in the field of eight in the 450m non-graded event.

Capitalising on his newly allocated box 1 draw, the ever-consistent fawn dog shot to an early lead, and after repelling a mid-race challenge by well-fancied rival Starline Express, Cash Master kicked strongly and surged to the line to win the feature event at the Grafton Greyhound Racing Club on May 7 in a smart time of 25.24 seconds.    

Starline Express finished second narrowly ahead of Commands Respect.

Unlucky not to finish closer when placing fourth in the Village Green Hotel Grafton Cup Heat 2 as the short-priced favourite on April 30, Cash Master quickly turned his form around in front of an enthusiastic crowd over the weekend to record his twelfth win from 21 starts and take his career earnings over $86000.

As he joined winning trainer Robert Cooke and President of the Grafton Greyhound Racing Club John Corrigan for the official presentation following the race, Cash Master’s owner Patrick Gainey said connections were blessed during the week to gain a start in the feature event, while adding it was “a bit of bad luck” for other hopeful trainers and their dogs.

“Cookie rang me on Friday and said, ‘you’re not going to believe it, we’ve got a start’, and I said ‘that’s great’, and then he said ‘you’re not going to believe what box’, and when we knew he (Cash Master) had box 1, straight away we knew he had a chance,” he recalled.

“It was a great win tonight.”

The Grafton Greyhound Racing Club will host their next race meeting on May 14.

The feature event on the program will be the 2023 Mother’s Day Pendant over 350m.