NEIL Staines was the big winner from Monday’s Orange Cup Heats (520 metres) at Kennerson Park as he came away with two winners.
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Staines claimed wins with both Vince Fawn and Slamming Thunder while the meeting’s other two heats were taken out by Utah Miss (Joseph Satti) and Good Odds Regina (Frank Hurst).
Vince Fawn’s win in the opening heat was the most thrilling finish of Monday’s meeting.
Staines’ runner swept around the outside of leader She’s Grand on the home straight, and appeared to have the race won, before Kilkee May finished with a late burst to make it a photo finish.
Vince Fawn ($10.20) was awarded the victory by a nose in a time of 30.22 seconds.
Slamming Thunder ($2.80) showed great speed over the middle third of the following heat to give Staines his double for the day. The time of 30.01 was the fastest of the heats.
“Vince Fawn stayed out of trouble on that first corner. I thought Kilkee May might have got him on the inside, but she will improve greatly out that run,” Kennerson Park racing Manager Jason Lyne said.
“Slamming Thunder has been here before and really seems to enjoy coming outside of the wide boxes.”
Satti’s Utah Miss ($8.90) slowly pulled away from Myrniong Socks ($24.10) over the back half of heat number three to complete an unlikely quinella, taking out the race in 30.16 seconds.
Good Odds Regina ($4.30) saw off a large group of challengers on the line to be the day’s last heat winner for trainer Hurst.
The heat was the day’s slowest at 30.35 but Lyne expects Good Odds Regina to be in the mix for the final.
“I’d say that Utah Miss will be another big improver, and it was a great run considering it was her first look at the track,” he said.
“Kilkee looks dangerous … and Good Odds Regina is a faultless starter. Slamming Thunder, Good Odds Regina and Kilkee May will probably be the best in the market but a lot can change depending on the boxes.
“It’s a $3,000 prize to the winner and the race is a good lead-in to the Bathurst Cup, which is worth $12,000. I’d say we’ll be seeing a lot of these dogs coming back for that.”
The final eight runners who qualified for the Orange Cup decider are the four winners plus runner-up finishers Kilkee May, Spring Skipper, Myrniong Socks and Mr. Make Believe.
The Julie Healey Memorial Final will also be run at Kennerson Park’s Monday meeting.