It may have been his first look at the unique Hunter Valley grass circuit, but West Rock Casey made every post a winner in his heat of the $25,000 Ladbrokes Muswellbrook Cup on Sunday night.
The youngster, who is still more than a month away from his second birthday, racked up his eighth win for trainer Mary Hughes in start 23 as he claimed the opening preliminary by two lengths.
The kennel thrilled to soon be contesting a maiden feature final.
“I saw the Muswellbrook Cup on the calendar and thought “what the hell, I wouldn’t mind a drive out to Muswellbrook”,” an excited Hughes said following the win.
“Getting through to any final is exciting and wouldn’t $25,000 be a nice Christmas present. I’ve never had a superstar in my name but I’m just happy to be there. We all put in the same amount of effort into our dogs so whoever wins will deserve it.”
West Rock Casey stopped the clock in 33.44 to beat home Moon Raider, with Rock Me Gently and Journey also advancing to Sunday’s final.
The son of Fernando Bale x Zipping Kelly drawing “perfectly” in the decider according to Hughes, with Box 3 suiting the third fastest qualifier.
“When they were shaking the banjo up and down, I thought Box 3 would be a good draw for him. It puts him a few dogs off the fence and he goes in first now which is good because he gets a bit excited and antsy,” Hughes added.
“He can be a little tardy at the beginning of his races and that was the reason for putting him up over further. The step up to middle-distance racing seems to be suiting him and if he can step on terms with these dogs, he should improve in his second run at the track.”
“His mother [Zipping Kelly] was also the old 790m record holder at Richmond too so it’s a strong line. I’m not quite sure this guy will get to the staying trips because I think 600m tires him out but 571m suits him perfectly.”
Not only is West Rock Casey out of a track record holder, he’s also a half-brother to talented sprinters Nad Al Sheba and Blue Goose Boy who have won almost $200,000 between them.
The dog known as ‘Casey’ also endearing himself to Hughes’ other half.
“My partner Trevor has never been involved in greyhounds but he just loves them and spoils them all. If he ever goes missing, I wander out to the kennels and there he is patting them all,” Hughes added with a laugh.
West Rock Casey With Mary Hughes
“I’ve had ‘Casey’ and his brother [Late Night News] since they were four months of age. I reared them at my place, then they went off to break in together and I’ve raced them since.”
“’Casey‘ is a lovely natured dogs, a real character. Nothing worries him too much, he’s keen, does everything right, he takes the workload and loves it and probably would take more if I could give it to him. Hopefully he can run well this weekend.”
In the second heat, the Shaun Guthrie-prepared runner Bandit Chloe clocked the day’s fastest time of 33.34 to beat home Jungle Tiger by 1.25 lengths. Fire Motto and All Zipper also made it through to the final.
