Speed The Key To Cooke's Grafton Maiden Hopes

WILEY Casino trainer Robert Cooke has been in greyhound racing long enough to know “early pace wins the race”.

And that's what he is counting on when he lines up two exciting youngsters for Sunday's heats of the time-honoured July Maiden (450m) at Grafton.

FIELDS AND FORM GRAFTON SUNDAY

Cooke will have Cash Destroyer (Raw Ability-Cash Talks) in the opening heat of the glamour maiden series on Sunday and she has drawn the three box.

In the following heat will come Cash Master (Aston Dee Bee-Cashpot) from box two.

Five heats of the maiden series will be run.

“They are both very promising youngsters,” said Cooke.

“Both have trialled well at Grafton but both show blistering early pace.

“That is their biggest asset.”

Cash Master is a three-quarter brother to Cooke's star pair Cash View and Cash Stack (by Raw Ability).

Cash View holds the Grafton 450m track record at 25.01 and won the Group 2 Lismore Cup last year.

His brother Cash Stack, now in New Zealand, has twice been a finalist at Group level.

Cash Talks, the dam of Cash Destroyer, is a virtual sister to Cashpot, making Cash Destroyer a virtual sister to Cash View and Cash Stack.

“I expect them to go very close to winning,” said Cooke of both youngsters.

“Their first sections are fantastic.”

Cash Destroyer comes up against five superbly bred youngsters also making their debut.

Selena Zammit has All Natural (Sennachie-Kealoah), Scott Board has Spring Bistro (Aston Dee Bee-Spring Bella), Mick Hardman will run Zipping River (SH Avatar-Zipping Abby), Dennis Barnes, a regular Grafton carnival visitor, has Nangar Rocket (Feral Franky-Little Nangar) and Frank Hancock will be chasing yet another July Maiden with Marinus (Bombastic Shiraz-Anja).

Cash Master takes on Mick Hardman's Zipping Senorita, a littermate to Zipping River, and Nangar Chief, a littermate to Nangar Rocket.

Hardman has littermates in all five of the heats, the others being Zipping Neutron, Zipping Highland and Zipping Patch.

All of them are half relations to top young stud dog Zipping Garth.