Aside from Aston Rupee’s dominant Shootout win nine greyhounds booked their spot in next Friday’s TAB Melbourne Cup heats with Prelude wins on Thursday night.
It was an outstanding night of racing and it’s scary to think that it will be even better next Friday.
See all of the Prelude winners below and how the races were won including their max speed, average speed and distance covered.
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Aussie Secret (2) – Jason Thompson
In true Aussie Secret style he began well then pushed to the outside part of the track. Fortunately for him it caused interference for those behind but he was off and gone. He set a top speed of 69kph and with his habit of racing wide covered 517.6 metres in total – the seventh longest of the Prelude winners.
Max speed: 69kph
Average speed: 62.5kph
Distance covered: 517.6m
Indy Fido (1) – Andrea Dailly
It was the perfect box 1 performance from Indy Fido, hugged the rail and covered less ground than those around him. A fair shock to the punters too, he won at odds of $31.
Max speed: 67.5kph
Average speed: 62.7kph
Distance covered: 516.5m
Hebridean Black (2) – Lisa Cockerell
He was tardy to begin but courtesy of his inside draw found himself in a beaitiful position at the apex of the turn. He’s a strong unit so from there he was going to be very hard to run down.
Max speed: 67.1kph
Average speed: 63.3kph
Distance covered: 516.1m
True Collinda (5) – Jason Thompson
She began quite well then got intense pressure from both sides and to her credit couldn’t have handled it better. She barged through to lead and it was autopilot from then onwards.
Max speed: 68.4kph
Average speed: 63.2kph
Distance covered: 516.0m
Kinson Bale (2) – Samantha Grenfell
He got plenty of room to showcase his acceleration and set the second fastest max speed of the Prelude winners. He didn’t hug the rail which meant he covered more ground than most others.
Max speed: 69.2kph
Average speed: 63.2kph
Distance covered: 518.4m
Koblenz (2) – David Geall
As we’ve seen so often he was absolutely faultless. He stepped perfectly though was challenged soon after by Typhoon Sammy who was absolutely motoring. Koblenz’s top speed was only mid-pack compared to other Prelude winners which underlines the importance of his impeccable box manners.
Max speed: 68.6kph
Average speed: 63.3kph
Distance covered: 515.4m
Hadouken (4) – Jessica Sharp
He looks to be regaining confidence at the perfect time of the year. It was a very comparable run to his start prior – elite splits though not maintained at the tail end which led to him having the lowest average speed of the Prelude winners.
Max speed: 69.2kph
Average speed: 62.4kph
Distance covered: 515.5m
Special Talent (1) – Mick Carter
He set the lowest max speed of the night’s Prelude winners however he was briefly held up at the point of the race where they typically set their max. He won on the same night last year from the same box to qualify himself for Cup heats.
Max speed: 66.9kph
Average speed: 62.8kph
Distance covered: 517.5m
Substantial (6) – Anthony Azzopardi
He had an outstanding duel with Fernando Bluey but given he was caught on the outside he covered plenty of ground. He not only had the longest journey of night’s Prelude winners but he also hit the highest speed – arguably the best performance of Prelude Series 3.
Max speed: 69.7kph
Average speed: 63.4kph
Distance covered: 519.6m
We’ve touched on the numbers surrounding the winners but who set the highest max and average speeds of Prelude Series 3?
Top max speeds
| Name | Max |
|---|---|
| Typhoon Sammy | 70.3kph |
| Substantial | 69.7kph |
| Kinson Bale | 69.2kph |
| Hadouken | 69.2kph |
| Aussie Secret | 69.0kph |
| Fernando Bluey | 68.9kph |
| Koblenz | 68.6kph |
| True Collinda | 68.4kph |
| Idolize | 68.1kph |
| Dr. Ryker | 68.1kph |
Top average speeds
| Name | Average |
|---|---|
| Substanial | 63.4kph |
| Koblenz | 63.3kph |
| Hebridean Black | 63.3kph |
| Kinson Bale | 63.2kph |
| True Collinda | 63.2kph |
| Typhoon Sammy | 63.1kph |
| Harrigan | 62.9kph |
| Special Talent | 62.8kph |
| Xavien Bale | 62.8kph |
| Idolize | 62.8kph |
Next Friday we see heats of the world’s greatest greyhound race as well as heats of the G1 Bold Trease for the stayers – a night regarded as the year’s best for the purists.
Nominations close at 10am on Tuesday with fields expected to out early afternoon.
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