Girls set for night out

By Paul Pickering
ENIGMATIC Queenslander Queen Lauryn will be hoping to continue her reign over Sandown Park in tonight’s Group One Sapphire Crown final.
The star greyhound last week confirmed her status as one of Australia’s most dynamic bitches with a searing run in her heat and will start favourite to win her maiden Group One race.
Queen Lauryn qualified fastest for the final last Thursday night, but she will find stiff competition from in-form Victorian bitches Violet Crumble (trained by Stan Ralph at Tooradin), Hot Puzzle (Paul Anderton, Devon Meadows) and Sweet About Me (Paul Bartolo, Little River).
Jason Thompson’s Proven Polly (Pearcedale) and Lisa Cockerell’s Finlandia (Buckley) will also be given some chance of snaring the $50,000 winner’s purse, while Amelia Bale and Uno Kissy will start at generous odds.
Tonight’s final looks likely to be decided in the first 50m, with inconsistent starters Queen Lauryn (box two) and Violet Crumble (box one) set to be challenged from their right.
Both have explosive raw speed, but they will need it if their inside passage is stolen by the likes of Sweet About Me and Hot Puzzle.
The latter will be looking to atone for a luckless seventh placing in the Group One Laurels final at Sandown Park in May – her first top-tier hit-out.
Trainer Paul Anderton gives her every chance.
“We’re definitely in the race,” he said. “There’s a couple of damn good dogs – Queen Lauryn is just a freak – but if my little girl gets her bum out in front it’ll be a long wait.”
Anderton, 55, has been a part of the industry for as long as he can remember, but he says the opportunity to win a Group One feature is still a bit daunting.
“I don’t get nervous with dogs and I very rarely get excited, but to win a big one like that turns men into mice,” he said.
Jason Thompson knows that feeling all too well. The reigning Australian Greyhound Trainer of the year’s latest Group One triumph was with El Galo in the Topgun a fortnight ago.
His bitch, Proven Polly, has had some solid performances in Sydney in recent months, and the Thompson name will ensure she gets plenty of support from the punters.
In keeping with the theme of the night’s feature race, tonight will be Ladies Night at the Lightwood Road venue, with free entry for all ladies and a free show bag for the first 250 through the gate.