Rising Stars Final a launching pad to success

By Alex Nolan

Using recent history as a guide, we can expect the majority of Thursday’s Rising Stars Final at Albion Park to figure prominently in many more features across the state in the next year.

Rebranded The Rising Stars in 2020 and contested at Listed level, the former Racing Queensland Young Guns event is now a Group 3 race over 520 metres and worth $25,000 to the winner.

Magical Hope became the inaugural winner of the Rising Stars in 2020 when the Cyndie Elson-trained bitch held off a previous Capalaba Cup winner in Hara’s Clyde.

She would go on to win a heat of the Ipswich Cup a week later but it was the fifth place-getter in Farmor Beach – a Group 3 Vince Curry winner – that continued on with the job, winning a heat and then taking the $75,000 Ipswich Cup final for the Scott family.

Fourth place-getter Limited Edition earned Listed success the following winter in the Carnival Chase (then over 520 metres), while the third chaser home, Frieda Las Vegas, figured prominently in the 2020-21 Golden Greys Summer Carnival.

Last year, Sunshine Delight clocked 29.90 seconds from box one to claim the Rising Stars from Hearts Colliding and Dulceria.

The latter was already a Group 3 Townsville Cup winner by that stage of her career, but she would later go on to win the Group 3 Rockhampton Cup.

Shortly after, Hearts Colliding stepped up to the 600 metre journey and is a three-time winner over the middle distance at Albion Park.      

Pokie Payout made two Group 3 Finals the following winter and finished second to Keen in the Carnival Chase (now over 600 metres) at Albion Park in May.

Despite placing seventh, Showdown would bounce back the following week to win a heat of the 2021 Ipswich Cup, en route to contesting a further four Group finals.

While a crystal ball approach must be taken to suggest this year’s contestants can go on to enjoy similar racetrack success, Brisbane Greyhound Racing Club CEO Luke Gatehouse is quietly confident the current crop will go on with the job.

“The quality of this race is ridiculous,” Gatehouse said.

“In the past, we’ve always said these Finals look like a Group race and now it has the status it deserves."

Fastest qualifier Hara’s Skye is drawn in box five and is $2.70 out to $2.80 with TAB since markets opened.

Black Comanche – drawn in box eight – also has supporters, trimming into $3.20 from an opening quote of $3.80.

The big mover has been the Tony Short-trained Hidden Agenda.

Opening at $10 with TAB, last week’s slowest heat winner is now a $4.20 fixed odds chance on the third line of betting.

Gatehouse said he would be looking towards the top of the market to determine his final tip.  

“It all depends on how Hara’s Skye jumps, if she gets on the bunny, we get an interesting event,” Gatehouse said.

“Black Comanche is drawn perfectly in box eight and he’s an ‘X factor’ dog.

“Hidden Agenda doesn’t run the spectacular times but is the perfect race dog.

“He has good field sense and is drawn to perfection in box one.

“Box one is worth a lot in Finals and if you get each-way odds, which it appears the early shoppers have done, even better.

“I see the winner coming from one of those three but anything can happen.”

Gatehouse is eagerly anticipating the 2022-23 Golden Greys Summer Carnival, which kicks off on the first night of summer - being December 1 - with the Listed Queensland Flame.

The winner will be offered the chance to represent the Racing Queensland slot in The Phoenix in Melbourne later that month.  

“I think it’s going to be a blockbuster carnival,” Gatehouse said.

“People are used to travelling again now so that’s half the battle.

"There’s a lot of racing down south to be done and dusted but trainers will be starting to cast their eye up this way.”