Lenny Primed For Sprint Title Defence

SPRINTING sensation Gold Lenny will be striving to eclipse some of the great names in Tassie greyhound racing when he defends his Crocmedia Tasmanian Sprint Championship crown this Thursday night at Launceston.

Trained by owner/breeder Rodney Walker, the fawn sprinter took out last year's sprint title off box six, with a win in this year's race set to see him become the only dual winner since the race's inception back in 1965.

After finishing third in the Division 2 Final of the J G Nelson Cup behind Buckle Up Rose last Monday, Gold Lenny returned to the Tasman Park circuit on Thursday night, running a gallant second in his Sprint Championship heat to rival Dooper in 30.20.

The second placing was enough to book the son of Spring Gun and Marananga Moss a spot in consecutive sprint finals, with Bagdad-based Rodney Walker simply elated with his chaser's performance.

"I'm very proud of the dog," Walker stated over the weekend.

"Lenny is racing great, he is such an honest chaser. His last few runs at Launceston have been very good and the run in the Nelson Cup was a huge effort.

"His run on Thursday was good despite been pushed wide by Dooper going through the first turn, to make up the ground and still run it out and finish just a head to Dooper I thought was extremely gutsy and he will be ready come the final this week," he said.

Gold Lenny heads into the $5,030 to-the-winner final having won 18 races from 84 starts with 33 placings. Aside from his Sprint Championship win last year, he also made finals of the Tasmanian Derby and the LGRC Premier Stakes both at Launceston.

He will take on a talented field in the decider, including heat winners Buckle Up Rose and Two Bills which claimed their sprint qualifiers in 29.68 and 29.78 respectively. Also heading into the final is Jack's Missile, which finished down the track to Gold Lenny in last year's race.

Whilst it is a sensational field, Gold Lenny is given a real chance by Walker after coming up with box four, where fastest heat winner Buckle Up Rose has drawn box two and will start favourite, chasing her fifth straight win.

Walker has represented Tasmania on four occasions in the Nationals series, the Bagdad-based conditioner has represented Tasmania in the Distance Grand Final twice with Bold Tarmoor in 1986 and Lemon Moss in 2004.

Walker's first Sprint Title success was in 2005 with Blackberry Moss before claiming the Championship with Gold Lenny.