It may be called the Orange Cup, but Monday evening’s feature race will be run at Kennerson Park for the 13th consecutive year.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The cup was originally held at Orange’s Wade Park, but since greyhound has discontinued in the colour city, the race has been moved to Bathurst.
The race is set to get underway at 5.37pm come Monday, a meeting that will also feature the Julie Healey Memorial Final.
Bathurst Greyhound Racing Club racing manager Jason Lyne said Oxley Rebel, trained by Aaron Williams, is the dog to watch, the two-year-old dog having won four of his past five starts.
“It’s a dog with a big motor and he was very unlucky in the heat last week, getting severely checked before making up the ranks to get beat by a length and a quarter,” he said.
“For me, he’s the one to beat. I think he’s going to get a dream run from the box.
“He’s never been beaten from box one.”
Lyne also rated Bathurst trainer John Buttsworth’s Que Fever, who has drawn the box two.
“She looks the leader for me. She loves inside draws and loves the track here, with 10 starts and four wins,” he said.
“It’s just whether she has the strength in the later half of the stages to hold off the one dog. I don’t think she will unless there’s a mix up in the first quarter.
“For me, she’ll make her own luck from the front.”
He also described Little Digger as phenomenal chance.
“He’s won 23 from 49 starts. Four of those wins were at Bathurst and one of those were a personal best across 520 metres at 29.50,” Lyne said.
“He’s just a freak of a dog. He’s back from a bit of a break.
“If he finds the fence anytime during the run, they’ll know he’s in the race.”
Last year’s winner Falcon’s Fury will not defend his title, however, Falcon’s Fury’s trainer Paul Braddon, of Cowra, has Double Up Dee entered, the two-year-old black dog jumping from box six.
He’s won four of his past five starts of Bathurst, three of those wins coming at Kennerson Park.
Monday evening’s meeting is an 11 race meeting, with the first race – Ladbrokes Multi Builder Maiden (307 metres) – at 3.22pm.
The Julie Healey Memorial Final is the six race of the meeting, starting at 4.57pm.
- ORANGE CUP: 1 Oxley Rebel (Darren Sultana), 2 Que Fever (John Buttsworth), 3 Little Digger (Raymond Smith), 4 Furious Not Fast (Mark Ballantine), 5 Nangar Gift (Dennis Barnes), 6 Double Up Dee (Paul Braddon), 7 One Hour Parking (Mark Knowles), 8 King Panda (Jason Lawrence). Emergencies: 9 Calypso Blitz (Stephen Cleary), 10 Jacobite Swift (Joanne Kerr)