Friday greyhound action switches from Hatrick Raceway to Christchurch

Friday night action continues at Hatrick Raceway, although many of the top dogs have headed south for Group One racing at Addington.

Numerous open class greyhounds will be absent from this evening's Hatrick meeting, owing to their Group 1 racing commitments at the Addington Raceway.

The 520m greyhounds contested heats for the $100,000 Christchurch Casino New Zealand Cup last night, while this afternoon it is the turn of the straight-out sprinters as they vie for semifinal field positions for the $30,000 The Fitz Sports Bar Galaxy Sprint over the 295m dash at Addington.

The depth of the potent Lisa Cole kennel is illustrated tonight. Despite having a huge team in Christchurch, greyhounds trained by her still dominate this evening's main 520m event (race 9).

The vastly experienced Bigtime Rod is likely to not only likely to relish his trap one draw, but also the absence of his in-form kennel mates.

Simply Smooth was a 30.30s 520m winner here two races ago, while litter siblings Big Time Baby and Big Time Mac are also capable of featuring here for Cole.

Partners Susie Kite and Brian Marsh can sniff out a minor portion of the stake with either of their litter brothers, Classic Rapper and Dapper Rapper.

Cole-trained sprinters bookend the field in the open class 305m sprint (race 5).

Big Time Billie makes her return to Hatrick after she endured a traffic-impeded Tuesday Palmerston North 410m sprint. She has drawn to create her own racing luck from the one-trap.

Big Time Lebron tends to race away from the rail therefore he is presented with enhanced swooping claims from his trap eight draw.

Bigtime Puma can use his deep racing experience to his advantage in this dash while repeating the effort that the Lisa Olden-prepared Criminal Justice delivered last Friday, when he gamely chased home the sharp sprinter Trojan Hoarse, can see him being in contention at the business end here.

The Gary and Sandra Fredrickson-trained Bigtime Emjay upset here three races ago and he holds similar upset claims from his trap two draw in this sprint.

Pawnote: Racing at the annual Hatrick hosted Melbourne Cup day meeting is scheduled to kick off at 6pm on Tuesday. All facilities will be opened early to accommodate those wanting to take in the action from the high-profile meetings on both sides of the Tasman, with the rich Flemington two-mile race being sent on the journey at 5pm.