With ten regional finals of the Ladbrokes Million Dollar Chase (MDC) now contested, 33 greyhounds have successfully made it through to the next phase of the world’s richest race series.
From the list of qualifiers so far, here are my top five chances of taking out the eighth edition of the MDC.
1) Paw Oswald | Ladbrokes $31 A worthy winner at Broken Hill on Sunday night, this guy has made the red loam of the outback a home away from home over the last three months. He’s registered four wins from four starts across the Broken Hill Cup and MDC regional series, and now he heads to the semi-finals with plenty of Wenty Park experience already on his side.
He won the age-restricted Group 1 National Derby at the track in January (beating home Jungle Johnny), was one of the favourites for the inaugural running of the G1 Paul Wheeler final in December (which was won by 2024 MDC champion Blue Kermaro) and ran fourth in the Young Star final in October.
He’s got a track and trip PB of 29.44 at Wenty, he hasn’t missed a place in his last 11 starts in top company, and he’s trained by some of the best in the business in Mark and Lisa Delbridge.
Paw Oswald is racing at the peak of his powers and he’s still not even three-years-old…
Mark Delbridge with Paw Oswald after winning a heat of the National Derby at Wentworth Park
2) Cumbria Jack | Ladbrokes $15
We haven’t seen the Group 1 National Sprint Champion since that breakout win at The Q on August 30…but boy are we excited to see him step out next.
A relative rookie of just 19 starts, Cumbria Jack has won 14 races and placed in four others – his only miss coming in his first ever race start at Nowra back in December.
His performances under the care of Tony Brett in Queensland were nothing short of sensational. He won seven straight starts north of the border, took out the aforementioned G1 title ahead of the likes of Tim Zoo and Flying Zulu, set the Q track record of 28.99 and finished second in the State Of Origin sprint behind Good Odds Cobber.
Hasn’t seen Wentworth Park under race conditions yet which is an obvious query, but gee, he is a salivating prospect and deserves joint favouritism for the MDC crown.
Cumbria Jack is a son of Fernando Bale x Cumbria Ninno
3) Eriza Sparkles | Ladbrokes $21
The freshly minted Group 1 Dapto Megastar champion gives Steve Fitch two great hopes heading into the semi-finals on October 10.
This girl was brilliant in knocking over a gun field at Dapto last Thursday night and backed up her efforts in the heats where she was the fastest qualifier.
Like her kennelmate, she’s also lightly raced with just the dozen starts to her name. She is already a G1 winner though and also qualified for the final of the G1 Peter Mosman Opal where she finished seventh behind Coast Rig.
Her heat effort in that series – 29.48 in just her fifth career start – made everyone sit up and take notice and now she’s one win away from racing for a million bucks.
Has had to do most of her damage from wide draws (just three starts from Boxes 1-3) so would love to see her jump from a gun draw in a big race, especially considering her blistering early speed.
Team Fitch with Eriza Sparkles after her Megastar win
4) Massaro | Ladbrokes $51
This blokes run in the Maitland MDC regional final was brilliant, especially for a young dog.
He had to work hard from Box 6 to get across some experienced runners and even once he found clear air, he still looked a little raw on the bend as he tried to chase down Badger’s Beast.
Only a select few have been able to get anywhere near Badger’s Beast so far this year (he’s only lost three races in 19 starts) and Massaro went within 0.13 of a length of joining the very selective list.
The best part of his run at Maitland? He savaged the line at the end of 450m so the step back up to two turns at Wenty Park should suit.
The Sultana/Thomas kennel had a big opinion of Massaro heading in to the Vic Peters Classic series in July, and although kennelmate Gus The Jet got the choccies in the final, I reckon this bloke has something special in him before the year is out.
He’s started at $1.75 or less in eight of his 11 starts and is a good dog to watch the market on.
Massaro is trained by Michelle Sultana and Darryl Thomas
5) Zig Zag Man | Ladbrokes $51
He’s always been an intriguing prospect and even more so after trainer Syd Swain said he might be preparing him for a staying campaign instead of a tilt at a million dollars.
Either way, he’s got serious ability and it seems he’s starting to realise his full potential after nine wins in his last 15 outings. One of those was the Richmond MDC regional final where he beat home False Witness and Super Maxi in a time of 29.63, securing his spot in the October 10 semi-finals.
He does seem better suited over further than 520m, but any dog with a PB of 29.37 at Wenty Park is more than capable of winning the MDC (he also trialled 29.44 at headquarters last month).
He’s already a G1 and G3 finalist in his 34 starts and he’s another promising pup to come out of the National Derby final earlier this year.
Could Zig Zag Man be the eighth million dollar dog?
The regional heats and finals of the series continue to roll on with Bulli, Gunnedah, Goulburn, The Gardens (Black Top), Grafton, Nowra and Wentworth Park (City Qualifiers) still to host qualification races.
The semi-finals of the Ladbrokes Million Dollar Chase will be held at Wentworth Park on October 10, with the final on October 17.
* Tim Zoo is currently injured and Flying Zulu may be targeted at the Masters Meteor so both were not included.
