By Luke Corda
Just three weeks ago, Moraine Suzie was competing in restricted-win provincial races. Last night, she locked in her spot to represent Victoria on the National Stage with a 41.47s romp in the State Distance Final at Sandown Park.
She was beaten for pace out the boxes but managed to find the rail, settling into sixth position. From there she displayed tremendous acceleration along the back straight, jumping on the outside of Gypsy Wyong and Jarick Bale before overpowering Alfie Moon in the run home to win by five lengths.
Her home straight explosion surprised everyone on track, even trainer Brendan Pursell was impressed.
“I knew she’d run home well, but to that extent was great to see,” he said.
“She was unlucky at the start so there’s no doubt that she can go even faster than that. Every run she’s had, she’s never disappointed once. She always has a crack and it’s only ever bad luck that stops her from winning races.”
Moraine Suzie has quickly become a sensation since stepping up over 700m, winning all three attempts thus far – in quick time, too.
“She’s had three runs over the 700m now and she’s getting better every run. We gradually stepped her up to 500m, then 600m and she looked like she would run out 700m strongly so we gave her a go and she really impressed us. She’s only young still so we’ll see where she ends up.”
Pursell and Suzie will head to Sydney on Wednesday for a trial around Wentworth Park, before returning the following Saturday to compete in the National Distance Final where Suzie will jump from Box 7.
It will be a new test for Suzie, but she has proven that she can take down the biggest of stars.
“She will need a bit of luck – there’s a few fast beginners in the race. I wouldn’t swap her for any other dog in the field, though.”
“She does everything right at home, everything right at the track. You can’t fault her at the moment.”
Fellow Victorian Gypsy Wyong also advances to the Final despite finishing fifth behind Moraine Suzie. Her excellent form in the past year has her as the highest-ranked competitor on the Greyhound Clubs Australia stayers rankings, locking in her spot in the National Final as the ‘Wildcard’ runner.
In the sprinters Final, Dusty Bourbski continued his scintillating run of form with an outstanding 29.24s win over a gallant Photo Man.
Since finishing second behind Wow She’s Fast in last month’s Group 1 Maturity Classic, he has gone to another level scoring three straight wins – all in rapid time.
Dusty Bourbski has drawn Box 2 in the National Sprint Final and his record from inside draws will have the Dailly’s optimistic. His seven wins from 11 Box 1 & 2 starts prove how hard he is to catch once he finds the fence.
Both the National Sprint Final and National Distance Final will run on Saturday August 27 at Wentworth Park.
