Casino Cup (G3)

Bonnie Gives Malcolm His First Group Win

By Michael Cowley
Malcolm Ross had it all planned out: “Jump in front and let them chase her.” While quite often such strategies don’t come to fruition, this time it worked exactly as the trainer wanted, with his bitch Phantom Bonnie leading throughout to win the Group 3 Charcoal Inn Casino Cup Final on Friday.

The start was always going to be the telling tale of the Cup Final, with little separating the entire field when it came to early speed and sectional times from last week’s heats. 

Essentially the front was crucial, and Phantom Bonnie speared out of box 7, ran a sizzling 2.68s first split, and then after opening up a big break, was able to hold on for the win and the $25,000 first prize.

“I’m stoked,” said Ross who calls Fairy Hill home, just 11kms north of Casino. “It’s great to be a local winning the race too. All the locals try and win this race.

“I’ve moved down from Brisbane to Casino probably eight or nine years ago to breed greyhounds and I think I’ve been on the committee at the club for about two years.

“This just tops off a good year … the best year I’ve ever had with winners, I’ve had about 65 this year which is enormous, and until today, I’d never won one a group race before.

“I was stoked when she got to the front and I was just praying she didn’t get too tired. I was certainly more confident being in front than having to come from behind, and when she put 5 to 8 lengths on them, I thought you’re going to get tired so I was looking for the winning post, but she came home as good as last week, and it was a great win.”

Phantom Bonnie - who brought up win number 9 from just 12 starts - clocked 27.26s in winning by 3¾ lengths from Hello Mavis with Katana a further 2 lengths away in third.


While he knew she had ability, Ross admits he thought his main hope in the Cup would be Phantom Bonnie’s brother, Phantom Clyde who entered the series with a record of 14 wins from 17 starts. But when he stuck trouble and missed the final, Bonnie was left to fly the Ross flag.

“He’s a very good dog - and Bonnie is a good bitch too - but Clyde is probably proven against the better class of dogs where Bonnie was not as proven,” Ross explained. “But she has a motor as well, and to tell the truth after the (heat) win last week and the time she ran - and she had never been past 430m in a trial or anything - I was stoked with her and I thought if I haven’t flattened her, and I can get her to the front, she should go even better and she did.

“The best thing was she was on the outside of all the speed today and she seems to like wide draws. A lot of my dogs do for some reason. You draw inside, you get touched, you lose momentum. Being out wide she had a real good chance of leading, and when she did I was just praying she didn’t get too tired.”

Ross said that “now she has proven herself in the better class of dogs” he will now look to chase group races with Phantom Bonnie.

* Photo Lisa Vanderstok.