Above left: Tasmanian trainer Shane Whitney, left, and his father scored a Sandown Cup quinella with star littermates Chinatown Lad, left, and Fallen Zorro last week.By Paul Pickering
TASMANIAN littermates Chinatown Lad and Fallen Zorro stormed to a memorable sibling quinella in the $86,000 Group 1 Sandown Cup last Thursday night.
Chinatown Lad, the $2.30 favourite, burst out of box two and led all the way to record a sizzling time of 42.14 seconds – the second-fastest in race history – and deliver trainer Shane Whitney his maiden Group 1 victory.
Meanwhile, Chinatown Lad’s little sister, Fallen Zorro ($5.20), chased down local hope Bye Bye Bones ($7) in the shadows of the post to complete the quinella.
The Tassie one-two was the headline act on an eventful night at Sandown Park, with popular victories to sentimental favourites Sky Hazzard and Shanlyn Prince capping a quality undercard.
Whitney, who has been a prolific race-winner around the country, showed no hesitation in hailing the cup triumph as the finest moment of his career.
“It’s definitely the biggest win I’ve ever had,” he said.
“I’ve won a few big races and run a few seconds in Group 1s, but this is the one. I’m absolutely thrilled to bits.”
So confident was Whitney was that Chinatown Lad would not be caught, he stopped watching his champion stayer in the back straight.
“When he led I thought he’d definitely be hard to beat, so I didn’t really take much notice of him,” he said.
“I was watching (Fallen Zorro) so she could get up for second.”
Whitney’s superstar pairing is the product of a lucrative five-hound litter – by Lilli Pilli Lad and out of Chinatown Babe – that has now scored more than 40 wins around Australia.
He says the siblings get along famously, travelling around together in the back of his ute.
“He likes to be the boss a bit, this bloke,” Whitney said, walking Chinatown Lad back to the kennel after the race.
“He’s a bit cheeky. But she’s as placid as anything, you can take her (Fallen Zorro) anywhere and it wouldn’t bother her.”
Whitney is now looking forward to returning to Sandown Park for the Group 2 McKenna Memorial next month.
While the Sandown Cup will always conjure fond memories for Whitney, that is not the case for 80-year-old Glenroy trainer Don Hazzard.
In a much-publicised gaff, Hazzard caused last year’s cup to be abandoned after he accidentally pulled the starter’s lever and released the hounds prematurely.
But on Thursday night, Hazzard found some redemption when Sky Hazzard ($6.80) upset raging favourite Just Friends ($1.50) in the 715m Special Event.
Hazzard was in tears after the race, telling Sandown officials he was forever indebted to the club for its empathy in the wake of last year’s debacle.
Later, champion sprinter Shanlyn Prince made a rousing return to top nick in holding off the highly fancied Trew Millions to win the $14,500 Dave Hodgson Memorial over 515m.
It was the Prince’s first victory at Sandown Park since his stunning all-the-way triumph in the 2007 Melbourne Cup, providing some consolation for Cranbourne trainer Darren McDonald after his near miss in the evening’s main race.
The meeting was capped off by another popular victory, this time to favourite Nick’s Boy ($3.50) – owned by Australian Test captain Ricky Ponting – in the last race.
