WELL done to the Wanganui club for carding a six-dog field for this evening's open class 520m event.
The main reason for the depleted field isbecause of the large number of greyhounds trained in the Central Districts region, who normally race at Hatrick on Fridays, having contested the Plasterboard AucklandCup series.
Two $5000 feature 527m races were held at the Manukau Stadium last night, which again attracted runners from this region and also reduced the pool of chasers being available tonight.
Speaking about the Auckland Cup, it was the Palmerston North-based Lisa Ahern-prepared Angvella, who has delivered some smart Hatrick 520m times, who easily prevailed in the $80,000 Group 1 event.
Angvella picked the jump perfectly to lead home January's Wellington Cup winner Thrilling Georga, from the Karen Walsh, Tirau, kennels.
From her Foxton kennels, Angela Turnwald applied the finishing touches to Royal Runner to finish third, shading the Matt Roberts, Marton-trained Cawbourne Crouch for that placing.
Auckland Cup finalist Check The Mail is backing up from that assignment in tonight's event (race 10).
His lack of early pace saw him settle in the rear group at Manukau before finishing in a midfield position for Ahern.
The small field size is likely to help him tonight, when he can use his known powerful finish to his advantage, just like he did when winning his 520m outing here four races ago.
His railing kennel mate Ritza Danny has drawn ideally in the ace-trap here and is capable of leading his rivals throughout.
Another Ahern-trained contender is Mammy Brown, who must rediscover her known early pace from the traps.
Air Raid and Grader Jack are both Turnwald-prepared chasers, who are also returning from their Auckland assignments. Both are capable of sniffing out a minor portion of the stake here.
The prior race is a real competitive-looking open class 305m sprint.
Again, it is the strong Ahern kennel that holds the key to this dash with her trio of sprinters Why Oh Why, Elle Packer and Allegro Class all holding winning claims.
