The Masters’ Meteor is an event which was conceived to give older greyhounds a feature event to aim for and was programmed to be a part of the Million Dollar Chase carnival.
The event is for Masters’ greyhounds and carries prizemoney of $100,000 for the winner. Heats are held 10 days prior to the final, with the decider an important feature on Million Dollar Chase Grand Final night at Wentworth Park.
The inaugural Masters’ Meteor was taken out by the Evelyn Harris-trained Cosmic Bonus, which clocked a slashing 29.63s, the fastest time on the night, quicker than even MDC winner Mystic Riot.
A year on and the placegetters from that inaugural final - Cosmic Bonus, Springcreek Bill and Blabba Mouth - all qualified for the 2019 Masters’ Meteor final, with 2018 third placegetter Blabba Mouth winning the 2019 edition for trainer Cheryl Murray.
Again it was strong field for the Masters Meteor in 2020, and victory went to the Judy Richardson-trained Sunburnt Highway - the only dog in her kennel.
Sunburnt Highway had been a finalist in six Group 1 races during his career, and finally got his big feature race win at start 107, the Masters Meteor.
Sunburnt Highway was a worthy winner for the Richardson kennel in 2020
It was going to be an emotional night with the grand old campaigner, rising six-year-old Sunburnt Highway having his final start in the final of the Masters Meteor.
The defending champion had notched win number 39 at Wentworth Park 10 days earlier, and trainer Judy Richardson said this would be it for Billy.
The large crowd was hoping for a fairytale but it just wasn't to be.
The win and the $100,000 went to Kempsey trainer Nathan Goodwin when his dog Angry Blizzard managed to just get the bob in on the line and grab victory from an unlucky Crazy Old Goat.
The win was the 20th of Angry Blizzard's career which began back in August 2019.
Early leader Fire Legend couldn't stave off the other pair and finishing third with Sunburnt Highway a gallant fourth.
Angry Blizzard claimed the May race in 2022
Angry Blizzard with connections
Just four months later we were back at Wentworth Park for another Masters Meteor and so too was third placegetter from the May edition Fire Legend.
And this time Mark Moroney's marvel was able to lead and no other runner could get near him, registering win number 52 in a remarkable career.
Fire Legend won the September edition of the Masters Meteor in 2022
2022 (September) Masters Meteor winner Fire Legend
In 2023, it was all about Fernando Hunter for Michelle Sultana and Darryl Thomas.
The dog, owned by star jockey Brenton Avdulla, claimed the race by 1.75 lengths from the David Geall-trained Stout Monelli and the prizemoney ticked him over the $200,000 in career earnings.
