Absolute sheer power – that was American Warrior at his very potent best when he exerted his dominance over his rivals to reclaim his Ascot Park 457m track record on Sunday afternoon while cruising to his Colin And Orma Gray Memorial Invercargill Cup victory.
Pic – American Warrior storming to his Ascot Park 457m track record – pic Dave Robbie
Absolute sheer power – that was American Warrior at his very potent best when he exerted his dominance over his rivals to reclaim his Ascot Park 457m track record on Sunday afternoon while cruising to his Colin And Orma Gray Memorial Invercargill Cup victory.
The $6,000 feature event was all over as a contest shortly after the 457m traps lifted when the Dave and Jean Fahey prepared greyhound blasted his way into the race lead after leaping from his favoured eight trap. A couple of big potent early bounds carried him clear of his rivals, while the bulk of the field jammed up in behind him. All that had to be established at that point was the margin of his victory and to check out the clock.
He had built a 2.5 length margin over his margins at the judge. American Warrior’s known liking for the big, sweeping one turn tracks, his perfect box draw, plus the ideal Invercargill weather conditions on Sunday all pointed to the former 457m track record holder (25.69s) holding sound claims of reclaiming that record, which Min Ho had taken of him a couple of weeks ago when he delivered his strong 25.65s 457m gallop. American Warrior’s 457m time was revealed at 25.57s, or in other words around 1.2 lengths swifter than Min Ho’s record time.
A fair degree of early jostling saw some of the other favoured podium contenders losing valuable early ground. Leading the initial chase after the free-wheeling American Warrior was Cawbourne Kristy from the Craig Roberts kennels. Gamely chasing after her was the Ray Adcock prepared reserve runner Epic Dream and the C4 graded greyhound maintained her strong gallop throughout to claim her second placing. Emerging strongly from out of the midfield pack during the run home was Southern Lights for local conditioner Roy Hamilton. His momentum carried him into third, a further 1.5 lengths astern while cutting Cawbourne Kristy out of a podium finish by a neck margin.
This victory was all about the power of American Warrior who made it ten wins from ten races on the horseshoe shaped circuits. The current NZ Cup title holder had previously won the $13,000 Group 2 Far South Challenge on this track. He then went on to annex the $10,000 Waikato Cup along with the $15,000 Palmerston North Gold Cup also at Group 2 level. After adding in his A$27,120 Australian winnings prior to crossing the Tasman, now sees this Whittington Sprod owned son of Nolen and Alotta Mojo career earnings sitting just on $143,000, the result of 31 wins and 12 minor placings from his 51 race day appearances.
Race day handler Nathan Breen with American Warrior following his Colin And Orma Gray Memorial Invercargill Cup victory and flanked by runner-up Epic Dream and third placed Southern Lights on the post-race podium - pics supplied by Dave Robbie - drobbie@ihug.co.nz – 021 607 869 for all your South Island race photos
By Peter Fenemor
