The exciting two year old greyhound Thomas William displayed track sense way above the limited race experience he currently owns to deliver his strong 26.08s victory in Monday’s $7,340 New Zealand Racing Series Novice final at the Manawatu Raceway.

Pictured: Thomas William following his Monday New Zealand Racing Series Novice victory (pic Georgie Clark)

It was a heady win by the David Denbee trained Thomas William. The son of Talk’s Cheap and Scamper Clair wasn’t the quickest away from the 457m traps and he had the bulk of the finalists in front of him during the early rush for positions.

Undeterred Thomas William worked himself into a field position where he spied a gap a few widths off the rail. From there he quickly pushed his way forward onto the outer of the pace making Ivan Howe and Wayne Woods trained Eye Kno (Fabregas – Ocotillo) and inside the handily placed Bigtime Lily (Jarvis Bale – Allegro Blast) from the Lisa Cole kennels.

A degree of jostling occurred on his outer which saw Thomas William seizing the race lead when completing the big, sweeping Manawatu bend. Punching him forward around the outer was the warm race favourite, Opawa Rooster (Fabregas – Token Kay), prepared by Dave and Jean Fahey.

Thomas William slipped clear during the run home as he maintained his freewheeling gallop to land his feature race victory by a comfortable two-length margin. He completed his 457m assignment in a tidy 26.08s.

Opawa Rooster kept up his strong gallop to claim the runner-up prize, holding a length margin over a gallant Bigtime Lily, while there was half a length further back to the other Fahey trained finalist Opawa Abbie Joy (Velocette – Opawa Peekay) who was the next finish.

It was a tidy and deserved payday for Denbee. Not only did Thomas William provide him with the $1,950 winning stake as the greyhound’s owner, he also picked up the same amount as his portion of the Breeders’ bonus payment in the litter bred by him. There are six siblings in Thomas William’s December 2015 whelped litter. All of them display a degree of talent.

Thomas William has been nicely placed by Denbee. He still holds a C1 grading having now won five of his eight career races. Add in one other minor placing and his stakes earning tally now sits at $6,876 (excluding bonus payments), which is a figure that is going to rapidly expand in the very near future.

The post-race Manawatu NZRS Novice podium. Thomas William and David Denbee is flanked by Josh Lane with runner up Opawa Rooster, while Georgie Cole is with third placed Bigtime Lily (pic Georgie Clark)

By Peter Fenemor