In just a little over 22 seconds, Flying Ricciardo ($1.22) reasserted his authority over his fellow Gold Muzzle Auction graduates to make it a clean sweep of the Ladbrokes Gold Muzzle Auction race series at Richmond on Friday night.
After being rolled as a $1.12 favourite in the qualifiers one week earlier, the son of Barcia Bale and Megalodon was back on the podium following an authoritative 2.75lth victory over Jackpot Josie ($8) with a further length away to the early leader Hola Adios ($10) in third place with the clock stopped at a best-of-night, 22.55
On a night when electrical storms and heavy rain created havoc and headaches, Flying Ricciardo again etched his name into the record books by claiming both the Wentworth Park and Richmond series of the Gold Muzzle Auction Race series and in turn, took his career record to 21 start for 17 wins and 3 seconds as his prizemoney tally soared to $147,890.
The story of Flying Ricciardo is now well known to most greyhound racing followers but for those who may be a little late coming to the party, he was purChased by Kristy Sultana at the inaugural Gold Muzzle Puppy Auction for $7,5000 after being one of four pups offered for sale by his breeder, Lynne Aldous.
At his debut performance on a race track, he set a new Track record over the 340m trip at Bulli before his colours were lowered one week late when he finished second to another Gold Muzzle Auction graduate, Lagoon Sunshine.
He then went on to win 13 of his next 14 starts including the G2 Black Top at The Gardens, with his only unplaced effort to date coming in the world’s richest race, the Million Dollar Chase.
The boom sprinter will now be aimed at the upcoming G1 Sportsbet Megastar series at Dapto over 520m where the Heats will be staged on Thursday, December 3.
It is an old cliché but hey, the racing world is full of those…at just 23 months of age ‘the world is his oyster’ and Flying Ricciardo may just be the flag-bearer for future Auction sales for many years to come.
Final details of the 2021 Gold Muzzle Puppy Auction will be confirmed shortly however the tentative date is Sunday, June 20, 2021 and it will be open for Pups whelped between July 1, 2020 and January 31, 2021.
