The first 12 semi-finalists of the Ladbrokes Thunderbolt have been decided after regional heats of the series at Wagga Wagga, Gosford and Bulli.
On the Central Coast, the Sue Smith-trained My Monroe set the time standard with a massive 21.91 PB over the Gosford 388m.
The 2025 Group 1 National Futurity finalist launched out of Box 3 and even though she was challenged early on by eventual runner-up Maura Figgis, she was far too strong to the line and landed a comfortable 2-length victory.
“She went brilliant, I was over the moon with her,” Smith said.
“She was down the track her last few at Wenty Park over 520m and she’s not really a top grade, free for all class dog down there, so I thought I’d freshen her up a bit and give her a look over the sprint.”
“Our whole line has early pace, that’s the breed and she’s the niece of Vamoose after all.”
Vamoose, also trained by Smith, was a memorable winner of the 2023 Thunderbolt final at Grafton.
The kennel keen to become the first dual winner in the short history of the $40,000 feature race.
2023 Thunderbolt winner Vamoose with handler Jade Murray
“Why couldn’t My Monroe win the thing,” Smith added.
“She made the final of the big Grafton maiden in July last year so she’s got experience at the track. She finished last but she got an injury in that race so she had excuses. We’ll have to work out whether we trial her before the semi-finals but we’re looking forward to it.”
In the night’s other heat, Tommy Tsunami (Mischelle Edmunds) rocketed home to nab Beer Money (Tony Desira) on the line with the winning margin just 0.01 of a second.
At Bulli on Tuesday evening, Where’s Fernando romped home in his heat to clock a BON time of 18.96 for Jeff Alaban.
The son of Fernando Bale beat Raging Zeal - trained by Glen Goodwin – by 3.5 lengths to improve his race record to 27 starts for 12 wins and 11 placings.
“He’s a good dog and he can put a gap on anything so it’ll take a good one to run him down up at Grafton,” Alaban said.
“Our Mumma Jo looked like the dog to beat because it’d been in good form but our guy flew out and never gave them a chance. We’ve never had Fernando Bale pups before but everyone says they come good at about two-and-a-half…well this guy is hitting that age right now and it’s showing.”
“He’s been chasing really hard over the last month. We took him away from Bulli because he wasn’t jumping all that well. We went to Nowra and he came out and beat a really good field by eight lengths. He’s a very strong dog.”
Where's Fernando (L) alongside Raging Zeal at Bulli on Tuesday
Alaban thrilled to make the semi-finals of the series for the first time after two luckless years of trying.
“We had the last two Thunderbolt’s in mind for Perfect Dawn because she was an absolute lid pinger. Unfortunately, she came on season the first year we were going to chase the race then she broke a toe before the second series,” Alaban said.
“We’ve just booked a trial at Grafton for Where’s Fernando for Sunday afternoon and with a bit of luck, who knows what could happen.”
In the other heat, Unbothered (19.29) beat home Man Of Zeal (19.44).
Man Of Zeal (L) and Unbothered after qualifying for the semi-finals of the 2025 Ladbrokes Thunderbolt
And last Friday night, the 2025 series kicked off at Wagga Wagga with Got A Depart, Bala Ace, Kostecki and Wilson’s Pick all progressing to the semi-finals.
Kostecki (Ken Gray) claimed the opening heat by just 0.03 of a length ahead of Wilson’s Pick for Martin Bowe.
But it was Got A Depart who stole the show in the State's south with an impressive 4.5 length triumph over Bala Ace in the second preliminary.
The Peter Dooner-prepared runner is now unbeaten in her last three starts and has only tasted defeat once in eight career races.
“She’s a bit sketchy at the start sometimes but she’s got some power when she gets going,” Dooner said.
“She’s bred out of one of my brood bitches, Gotta Bounce, and it could be an outstanding litter. We haven’t tried them over the longer distance yet and we need to start testing them away from Wagga Wagga but they’re doing a lot right so far.”
“I’d like to win to the Thunderbolt but we’re going to have to cover a bit of ground to do it.”
The series continues this week with further heats at Richmond (Wednesday), Goulburn (Friday), Dubbo and The Gardens (Saturday) and Grafton (Sunday).
The semi-finals of the $40,000 Ladbrokes Thunderbolt will be run at Grafton on Sunday, June 15, with the final to be held at Grafton on Saturday, June 21.
