The first group race of the year in WA will be held at Mandurah on Friday with the running of the Group 3 Birthday Cup (405m) where exciting Linda Britton-trained chaser Te Amo (pictured) will look to continue her love affair with the Peel circuit.
Undefeated in three starts at the track following her impressive heat victory last week, it was on this surface that Te Amo announced herself as a sprinter of genuine quality when she upstaged Dyna Nalin and Zelemar Fever to capture the Mandurah Cup back in October.
If she wins the Birthday Cup she’ll become only the second greyhound to complete the Mandurah Cup-Birthday Cup double after Icy Monaro achieved that feat in 1982.
Te Amo will launch in the pink as she did in her heat and although the opposition is tougher this week she’s more than capable of exploiting her exceptional early speed to snare the lead, or at least be amongst the pacesetters.
If she lands on the bunny she shouldn’t be beaten here.
At the opposite end of the traps Te Amo’s kennelmate, veteran chaser Gomes, is drawn to play a big role.
Gomes has already had an impact on this race by knocking out the dangerous Sveta Monelli in the heat stage where he showed no signs of rust from a two month spell to score by a large margin.
He’s now saluted in his past three, two of which have been from the red, and I like him as a smokey here.
Special Pup is the fastest qualifier after clocking 22.53 in her heat and she’s very comfortable over this distance having won 11 of 14 attempts over the ‘400’.
She needs a good start which might be difficult from box five but if she can find a clear path she can be prominent.
Luba Monelli may not have the brilliance of true champion but she’s a thoroughly professional race dog and she produces with metronomic consistency week in, week out.
Luba Monelli rarely turns in a bad performance and her record at Mandurah suggests she can be a big player in this one.
Fellow David Hobby-trained chaser Ritchie Rich also has claims from his inside draw.
Like a snake bite on a bushwalk, newly-converted stayer Em Three has come from nowhere to be a major contender for the Distance Gift (715m) at Cannington on Saturday night.
She had her first start over the 715m last week in the heats where she recorded a nice win and now finds herself the likely favourite for the silverware.
Em Three has recorded good times over both the 530m and 642m journeys previously so in hindsight her success over extra ground isn’t that surprising, and if she delivers a run similar to her heat effort she probably wins again.
Reverberate was disappointing last week but if she grabs the front-runner’s position, and there’s no reason she can’t from box two, she could turn the tables on Em Three.
Pedro’s Finest is starting to show his age but he might be able to get up for one last hurrah here.
Sassy Bullet and Freeway Ace, both heat winners, can’t be completely ruled out even though their times will need to improve considerably.
From the pole Houdini Monelli is a more attractive option if you’re a punter searching for some value.
He can be a bit up and down and he hasn’t ever really cracked it as a stayer but he’ll probably never get a better opportunity to get his paws on a trophy than here.
Best Bet: Dannie Bale (Race 2)
Best Value: Ritza Liam (Race 8)
Quaddie:
Race 5 – 1, 2, 5
Race 6 – 1, 2, 4
Race 7 – 2, 4, 6
Race 8 – 1, 3, 6
$20 for 24.69%
