Ageless Jabeni To Maintain ‘Masters' Winning Run

JABENI, the greyhound which trains himself, will be a raging hot favourite to notch his ninth win in 10 races when he leaves box one for Wednesday night's winningedgeinvestments.com Masters Stakes at Wentworth Park.

Jabeni clocked his personal best WP 520m figures in 27 outings when he won in 29.76  from box four on November 19 and recorded close to his fastest time at Ladbrokes Gardens when he won over 515m there in 29.49 last Saturday.

FIELDS AND FORM WENTWORTH PARK WEDNESDAY

That win was Jabeni's eighth victory from his past nine appearances prompting trainer Blake Moroney to describe the dog as “an old marvel.”

Jabeni took 29.58 to win his first race at Ladbrokes Gardens in March, 2020, but seems to get faster with age as he stopped the clock at 29.34 there on October 15 before another almost-as-quick win last week.

Masters races are supposed to be for veteran greyhounds whose best form could be behind them but Jabeni ignored that script by posting the fastest time of the night at #WentworthPark on Saturday…

Read More: https://t.co/wz4LsYgpSx#thedogs #greyhoundracing @NSWGBOTA pic.twitter.com/dk5So5kmGT

— The Dogs (@Thedogs_com_au) November 20, 2022

For much of his career Jabeni has been contesting middle distance events but trainer Blake Moroney has “found the key” to the dog through doing nothing with him and restricting him to shorter races.

“He is easy to train because I just keep him as fresh as far as possible,” Moroney said.

“For instance after he won at Gosford on November 22, Jabeni did nothing at all until he raced and won at The Gardens last Saturday.

“He didn't have a trial and did not even do any free galloping, he just pottered around at home, playing with my kids and getting lots of cuddles from my wife Bre.”

Highlight of Wednesday's 11-race card will be four heats of the 280m Ladbrokes Christmas Dash, with first and second placegetters qualifying for the $10,000 to the winner final at WP on December 17.

Cowra's Paul Braddon has been arguably NSW's most successful country trainer for the past 40 years and looks to have a great chance of winning Christmas Dash heats with litter brother and sister Digger's Magic and Sandy's Hope.

They were produced by Hope's A Chance, a daughter of Willow Blaze who was the dam of Braddon's 2016 Maitland Gold Cup winner Marbo's Magic.

Digger's Magic broke a 10-year track record at @bathurstdogs yesterday, clocking 17.33 for the 307m! ?

Well done team Braddon and Digger's Magic!

(Previous record, Entrust 17.36 – 2.1.2012)

Results: https://t.co/IhIfomUuNJ#thedogs #GreyhoundRacing pic.twitter.com/tmIIIpfsIN

— The Dogs (@Thedogs_com_au) April 19, 2022

Digger's Magic has box one in heat one of the Dash while his sister Sandy's Hope has drawn the rails in heat three.

“I'm pretty happy with those boxes,” said Braddon.

“There is not much between my pair, although Digger's Magic, when he gets the start right, is about a length faster than Sandy's Hope.

“Digger's Magic missed the jump when fifth from box eight at WP last Wednesday and hasn't quite got the Wenty boxes worked out yet.

“He is normally a brilliant beginner and when he comes out like he can he is usually two or three lengths clear of the field not long after they get going.

“Sandy's Hope's run when she finished second to Fascinate Donald at WP last Wednesday really pleased me.

“She went head and head with the winner in the early stages but was caught outside him all the way and got beaten just under a length.”

Sandy's Hope has won four of her six appearances wearing the red rug while Digger's Magic, whose tally from box one is two wins from four outings, boasts the remarkable strike rate of 21 wins from 40 races.

Another pair of siblings from the same kennel have great prospects in heats two and four of the Christmas Dash, with Vamoose (box eight, heat two) and his litter sister Kapow (box six, heat four) being suitably drawn.

Vamoose and Kapow are trained by Susan Smith and were produced by former brilliant short course speedster Blue Thunda, who won 18 of just 23 races for Smith's partner John Miles.

Vamoose is in the toughest heat but is “desperate” for an outside box and has won seven of 11 starts from wide draws.

Kapow bungled the start from box one in a 280m WP race last week and then found trouble when attempting to move wide.

Best Bet Jabeni (race 3)

Best Value Vamoose (race 9)

Quaddie race 5 – 1, 7, 4

Race 6 – 8, 5

Race 7 – 1, 4, 8

Race 8 – 1, 7, 2

$20 for 37.03%