Across the Ditch: Entrée to the big feast
Across the Ditch • August 22nd, 2025 3:38 PM
Greyhound Racing - Jared Timms
Another big weekend of Australian greyhound racing peaks in Taree on Saturday night with the running of the AU $25,000 Mid North Coast Cup.
Four bumper heats were contested last week and a final field including a Group 1 champion and other black type winners well step onto the 525m course.
One dog that doesn’t yet boast the record or the experience of any of his Mid North Coast Cup counterparts is Simplicity Magic.
A veteran of just seven career starts, Simplicity Magic produced his best performance to date to finish second behind Spritely Sian in last week’s heat; something that didn’t shock trainer Troy Dunn.
“You might only get once chance at a race like this, so that’s why I put in him the Cup heats,” Dunn told the Greyhound Recorder.
“He’s a beauty, I love him. He’s got everything a good dog has; except he can be slow away.
“The 10-day break between the heats and the final is not ideal, btu he’s been slipping in between and doing great.”
Having settled at the tail of the field soon after box rise, Simplicity Magic mustered an eye-catching turn of speed to gain passage into Saturday night’s final and has subsequently drawn the ideal Box 1.
Dunn, who has only five greyhounds in work, credits good friend and champion trainer, Peter Lagogiane for much of his recent success.
“I got to know Peter and the Sultana family, and they have all been very helpful for me,” he said.
Peter got me a dog early days and we won 15 races with it.”
Simplicity has been installed a $17 chance in early Mid North Coast Cup betting, with impressive heat victor Apache Tiger rated a $2.80 favourite.
Harness Racing - Adam Hamilton
It is a weekend in Aussie harness racing best described as an entrée.
So many of the stars stepping out across three key meetings – Melton, Menangle and Albion Park – will be major players at the huge September 6 meeting at Menangle.
The two features that night are the $2.1mil TAB Eureka and a fascinating $150,000 Group 1 Len Smith Mile.
By far THE most important entrée race is the opening event at Melton on Saturday night, the IRT free-for-all over 1720m.
That’s because five of the nine starters will likely head to either of the Menangle majors on September 6.
For the first time in their stellar careers, Fighter Command (gate five) and Bay Of Biscay (nine), will clash.
Given they are the two TAB Eureka favourites, the clash will likely reshape betting on the race.
While Fighter Command has the better draw, he isn’t blessed with blazing gate speed and Bay Of Biscay is more of a complete racehorse.
It’s a fascinating clash.
But it’s also far from a two-horse race given the presence of $2 million-plus earner Catch A Wave (eight), three time Group 1 winner Better Eclipse (six) and the emerging and well-drawn Keayang Tokyo (four).
That trio are all being set for the Len Smith Mile, a race Catch A Wave won last year.
At the other end of the Melton card, untapped three-year-old Go Miki is chasing his sixth win from just 10 starts and to keep his hopes of gaining a TAB Eureka slot alive in the final event (race nine).
Let’s head to Menangle Saturday night where the Racenet Discovery Stakes is basically a last hurrah for so many TAB Eureka hopes.
They include Bernie Hewitt’s in-form pair Royal Cruiser (gate six) and Our Goat (nine), emerging mares Bella Danza (two) and Looks Like Diamonds (three), former star juvenile Miki To Success (five) and the much-improved Glitter Aint Gold (eight).
While some of Our Luciano’s rivals like Horn Player (two), Cya Art (four) and Kingman (six) are Len Smith Mile-bound.
Then we go to Albion Park where boom three-year-old Fate Awaits, who beat the four-year-olds in last month’s Group 1 Rising Sun, has his final TAB Eureka tune-up against his own age in race seven.
Apart from some great racing, Saturday night is also going to teach us a lot.
