Simon Told Helen Headed To Sportsbet Dapto Megastar

Recently crowned Australian greyhound of the year Simon Told Helen and the brilliant Flying Ricciardo will headline Thursday’s heats of the Group 1 Sportsbet Dapto Megastar.

Three heats of the event, the only Group 1 in NSW held away from Wentworth Park, will be run, with the $75,000 to the winner final a week later. Simon Told Helen has drawn in heat three and Flying Ricciardo in heat one.

Simon Told Helen was gallant in defeat last Friday finishing 5½ lengths behind Hard Style Rico in Melbourne Cup Final at Sandown Park, the winner breaking the track record with a stunning 28.91s performance.

A win would have seen Simon Told Helen become the latest $1 million in the sport, but the $130,000 second prize has edged him closer to the magical mark, his earnings now standing at $890,135.

“It was a great effort and he’s pulled well and he’s ready and raring to go,” trainer David Burnett said on Monday.

“I think the track at Dapto suits him. He likes the four-turn tracks, and hopefully he can get away and get to that corner first and scoot away down the back.

“He hasn’t had a look at Dapto, but the track and the conditions suit him, and I’d rather that he is running on those tracks than on a horseshoe down here, which are probably not his go at the moment. He’s had three goes (on horseshoe tracks) for two seconds and a fourth.

“He’s got that speed and hopefully he can just use it that and get into it and he’ll be right.”

Burnett said the Megastar is the next step for Simon Told Helen, with January’s Paws Of Thunder at Wentworth Park another possibility.

“We’ll just take it one step at the time,” Burnett said. “Had he have won the Melbourne Cup we would have sat down and had a discussion about the future, but now we’re moving on and hopefully heading towards that $1 million, that’s the next aim. How we get there is interesting, but Paws Of Thunder is certainly on the agenda.”

Simon Told Helen - a winner of 24 of his 42 starts including four Group 1s - will start from box three in his heat, and clash with speedsters Ebby Jet Power (2), Drink Moet (8), Cumbria Belle (6) and Winlock On Top (4).

Flying Ricciardo has also drawn box three, and will meet boom sprinter SERIOUS Object (5), as well as NSW Sprint Champion Ritza Coen (8) and National Derby finalist Here Comes Joe (6).

The recent Golden Muzzle Final winner and TAB Million Dollar Chase Grand Finalist, will be having his first race start at Dapto however he did take a look at the track last Thursday with an impressive solo trial before the first race.

The Kristy Sultana-trained dog which has now won 17 of 21 starts, clocked an overall time of 29.47s, with sectionals of 5.27s, 16.85s and a run home of 12.62s.

Also trialling last Thursday at Dapto before the meeting was the Peter Lagogiane-trained Shetland, winner of the TAB Million Dollar Chase Consolation last month. Shetland clocked 29.87s when also having his first look at the track, posting 5.37s, 17.03s and coming home in 12.84s.

Shetland has drawn box two in heat two, and will clash with Ebby Infrared (8), Rapallo (7), and the consistent Silver Heels (6).