Elektra-charge!

EXCITING greyhound stayer Elektra broke through for her first feature race win last week, taking out the $10,000 Navy Week Trophy over the 715-metre course at Sandown Park.
After 11 unsuccessful attempts to score at the Lightwood Road circuit, Elektra, an $8 chance, jumped moderately from box eight and trailed race favourite Mid City Mandy early in the race stages.
The talented bitch made her move down the back straight before switching to the outside for the run home and finding the line two lengths ahead of Odnoc Alorac with the weakening Mid City Mandy a nose away third.
The win, in a moderate time of 42.71 seconds, continued a successful return to prominence for master trainer Graeme Bate.
In the second series of Melbourne Cup preludes contested on the night, West Australian Derby winner Spitfire Jet fired a warning shot at his rivals with a powerful victory in the fastest prelude win of the night, running 29.89 seconds for the 515-metre course.
The win guaranteed Daryl Williams’ impressive young chaser a start in the heats of the $215,000 Group 1 Melbourne Cup on Thursday, 23 November.
Joining Spitfire Jet with a berth in the heats of greyhound racing’s premier event will be Cool Logistix, Corzac and Black Peri, which easily accounted for Group 1 Nationals runner-up Fenceline after the odds-on favourite encountered trouble on the first turn.
Leading trainer Darren McDonald may have uncovered his next top-liner when Magnificent Love won the Grade 5 final by two lengths in an impressive time of 29.99.
The third Melbourne Cup prelude series will be run at Sandown Park on Thursday, 5 October.