NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Sport / Racing

Greyhound racing: Talbingo Bale headlines last Group 1 of the season

NZ Herald
13 Jul, 2022 08:15 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Talbingo Bale will jump from Box 8 in Thursday's Group 1 Rose & Thistle South Island Champs. Photo / Dave Robbie

Talbingo Bale will jump from Box 8 in Thursday's Group 1 Rose & Thistle South Island Champs. Photo / Dave Robbie

Talbingo Bale will line up as the short-priced favourite in this Thursday's Group 1 Rose & Thistle South Island Champs. The son of David Bale and Dyna Zesty is one of five Craig Roberts runners in the $30,000 feature, and barring exceptionally bad luck, he should simply be winning on Thursday.

He jumped straight to the front off Box 8 in last week's heat, and led throughout to score by five and a half lengths in 29.96. This week, he will don the pink rug again for the final.

"In my opinion, he's somewhat cementing himself as the King of Addington," said Dan Roberts, son of Craig. "To break 30 seconds on a cold night like it was on Thursday just shows how good he is."

Melville Bale won the other South Island Champs heat last week in 30.24, and the Group 1 New Zealand St Leger winner will jump from Box 6 on Thursday.

"He does sort of angle right straight out of the boxes, but if he cops a bit of knock from anything outside of him, it sort of straightens him up a wee bit," said Roberts.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Completing the Roberts quintet are Bahati Bale (Box 1), Oberon Bale (Box 5) and Money Spinner (Box 7). Bahati Bale led the chase behind Talbingo Bale last week, while Money Spinner and Oberon Bale finished third and fourth respectively behind Melville Bale.

"Bahati Bale had just been going fairly in her last couple, so it was good to see her bounce back to some form, especially in a Group 1 heat. I was quite happy with her run – obviously, she just doesn't quite have the measure of Talbingo Bale, but she was good nonetheless.

"Money Spinner has earned his spot in the final. He's just turned four a month ago, so it's a good effort for a four-year-old to be competing at that level and making Group 1 finals. It's probably hard to see him troubling them in the final – he'd need a lot to go his way – but he's earned his spot.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I was actually quite happy with the run of Oberon Bale. I thought he would be really underdone, but he found the line well enough and I just thought that he would be a massive improver from that run."

Meanwhile, Jean and Dave Fahey-trained greyhounds dominate the Group 2 Suck It Up Ltd Canterbury Futurity field, with the husband-wife training combination qualifying five runners for the final, along with the first reserve.

Opawa Wayne is shooting for a hat-trick of victories, and was impressive in leading his heat from start to finish to score by over seven lengths, clocking 30.07 in doing so. He looks ideally drawn in Box 2 this week.

"I'd definitely lean towards Wayne this week. I wouldn't underestimate him," said co-trainer Dave Fahey.

Opawa Wayne was the quickest Group 2 Suck It Up Ltd Canterbury Futurity heat winner last week. Photo / Dave Robbie
Opawa Wayne was the quickest Group 2 Suck It Up Ltd Canterbury Futurity heat winner last week. Photo / Dave Robbie

Opawa Superstar had his first start back after a two-month hiatus last week, and he narrowly held on to score in his heat over the fast-finishing Goldstar Carlito. While the time was only 30.33, Fahey suggests we can expect to see improvement from the champion this week.

"He's itching to go again," said Fahey. "He's been jumping out of his skin. He was definitely underdone for the heats, but I was really impressed with his recovery – he's recovered really quick.

"He seems as bright as a button, the run hasn't bothered him. But I do expect that run to really improve him for this week.

"He can definitely win the final, but Wayne is on fire at the moment and Wayne's 100 percent fit and raring to go, so he's got to be awfully hard to beat."

While Opawa Wayne and Opawa Superstar appear to be the Faheys' leading contenders in the $30,000 event, their other runners in the race are still worth consideration. Opawa Chrissy also won a heat last week after beginning cleanly and leading throughout in 30.30.

"She'd been disappointing lately. She used to be a really good box dog but now she's so keen to go, she's clawing at the lids and she's been missing it a fair bit. But it was great to see her jump to the front.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"She's not quite the dog I thought she'd be, but hopefully she might be on her way back."

Finally, Opawa Gina (who finished just under three lengths astern of Opawa Chrissy) will jump from Box 6 and Milky Tea (third behind Opawa Superstar) has drawn Box 8.

"Opawa Gina is really honest and she's hardly out of the money. She surprised me in the Oaks – she jumped to the front there, but Charlotte Lu was just too quick for her. She is capable of coming out running sometimes."

The Faheys will also be represented by Dembe in the Group 1 South Island Champs, following a strong effort for second behind Melville Bale in his heat.

"He's as honest as they come and he really deserves to get in the money in a race like that. He's just a really good grafter and a lovely dog to have around. And he's in career best form, as well."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Racing

Racing

'Absolutely flying': Asfoora impresses in pre-Ascot gallop

10 Jun 07:53 AM
Racing

Maison Louis shines, adding to legacy of foundation mare Richebourg

09 Jun 05:00 PM
Racing

Michael Wallace, key bloodstock agent, dies in US

09 Jun 05:00 PM

Clean water fuelling Pacific futures

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Racing

'Absolutely flying': Asfoora impresses in pre-Ascot gallop

'Absolutely flying': Asfoora impresses in pre-Ascot gallop

10 Jun 07:53 AM

Oisin Murphy says Asfoora is 'absolutely flying' ahead of her defence.

Maison Louis shines, adding to legacy of foundation mare Richebourg

Maison Louis shines, adding to legacy of foundation mare Richebourg

09 Jun 05:00 PM
Michael Wallace, key bloodstock agent, dies in US

Michael Wallace, key bloodstock agent, dies in US

09 Jun 05:00 PM
Bold Maison Louis resolute in Queensland Derby

Bold Maison Louis resolute in Queensland Derby

07 Jun 08:54 PM
It was just a stopover – 18 months later, they call it home
sponsored

It was just a stopover – 18 months later, they call it home

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP