The classy Addington feature races continues
Peter Fenemor • October 2nd, 2025 3:02 PM • 4 min read
The Thursday feature racing action continues at the Addington Raceway this evening with three finals to be decided following last week’s round of heats.
Stuck Throttle ($6 & $1.90 – TAB Fixed) stylishly returned to form when delivering his 525m 30.35 heat win for the $20,000 Springston Hotel Stakes (M9 Race 10).
“It was good to see Stuck Throttle bouncing back in his heat. He’s a different dog if he dictates the pace in front. I’m happy with him going into Thursday,” said his conditioner, Garry Cleeve.
Cleeve also advanced the promising youngster Yuki ($9.50 & $2.45).
“Yuki is a promising greyhound who wasn’t far away from winning his heat after copping a couple of checks. I believe he can mix it up with them,” suggested Cleeve.
The powerful Dave Fahey and Katie Wyllie training partnership produced Taieri Gout ($5.50 & $1.80) to lead all-the-way when winning the other heat, clocking 30.30.
“He’s a hard dog to follow. He’s hard to pull back in if he gets into the early race lead. I was pleased with his heat run,” confirmed Fahey.
Kennelmate Therapy Tex ($26 & $4.60) has been known to upset in previous similar fields.
“He ran a really good race. He’s capable of racing handy to the pace and he can kick on if he does so,” commented Fahey.
Craig Roberts is frustrated with the draws that two of his three finalists has received. The Addington 29.50 525m track record holder Paw Bradley ($2.80 & $1.30) isn’t overly keen when racing from the ace trap as his trainer explains.
“I’m not overly excited about his draw again and I reckon he isn’t either. I feel he’s at the stage off him being knocked around so much going into the first turn that he’s looking at getting out as soon as possible.
“If he can get a clear racing passage, then yes, he has to be hard to beat as nothing will finish stronger than him.”
Paw Earnest ($5 & $1.70) won the comparable feature 525m final three weeks ago in 30.03, however Roberts again advises that his trap seven draw could potentially present him with some issues.
“I wish I could swap the draws around for Paw Earnest and Paw Bradley. He’s going to have to take a flyer from out there, or if he doesn’t hopefully, he can secure a nice tuck in behind them going into the first turn.
Roberts considers that the trap-eight drawn Xisco Bale ($7 & $2.05) is a likely improver from his heat.
“Hopefully he can swoop on the others from out there. He has the ability to power up and if he does, he can cross them going into the first turn. He’s the big improver from my runners.”
The Matt Roberts and Jack Johnson prepared Let Him Cook ($9.45 & $2.45) adds to the combos’ puzzle that this field presents as Johnson informs us.
“I thought he probably should have won his heat. Put it this way, if he turns up on Thursday the others will know that he’s there. He’s all good for Thursday.”
The Fahey and Wyllie combination hold strong winning claims in both of the $10,000 feature 295m finals.
They provided both heat winners for The Homekill Guys Ltd Sprint (M10 Race 1) for the male short course speed merchants.
Opawa Mocha ($2.80 & $1.26) clocked 16.75, while Dingo Night ($3 & $1.30) posted a 16.84 sprint.
“Opawa Mocha has been racing great since he came back from a spell. He can run time, and he enjoys racing from out wide.
“Dingo Night has developed into a 295m specialist, although he does get tired late in his sprints. He needs to break quickly. We are happy with both of our sprinters,” advised Fahey.
Opawa April ($2.15 & $1.14) was the sharpest of the three Active Electrical Christchurch Dash (M10 Race 2) heats for the female sprinters, when posting her 16.95 dash.
“Opawa April isn’t the quickest starter around, although she does have great early acceleration. Racing from out wide suits her,” suggested Fahey.
Calum Weir has unleashed a number of promising young sprinters over recent weeks, with a pair of them taking out the other two heats.
Gotcha Pennies ($3.10 & $1.26) returned 17.01, while Gotcha Luck ($5 & $1.55) completed her sprint in 17.11.
“Gotcha Pennies has developed into a handy bitch, who is handling racing against good dogs great.
“Gotcha Luck was flying the traps when she was in the lower grades. It has been a good introduction to open class racing for her.
“She has come on hugely, and I feel there’s a lot more to come from her – it’s now up to her,” said Weir.
