Jamella Jet Holds Tassie's Million Dollar Hopes

There will be a Tassie flavour to Friday night's semi-finals of the inaugural Ladbrokes Million Dollar Chase (520m) after locally-bred sprinter Jamella Jet qualified for the second round by running third in a heat at Wentworth Park on Saturday night.

Trained by Andrew Crouch at South Windsor, Jamella Jet suffered interference after a bad start and finished down the track in the Richmond Regional Final on September 28 after qualifying fastest with a flying 30.47 heat performance.

But the March '16 son of Fernando Bale and Millie Grace was given another chance to run in a heat on Saturday night which was also his Wentworth Park debut.

From box eight as a $5 chance, the black chaser was ordinary away but showed plenty of acceleration to get through to fourth as the field went through the first turn, chasing front-runner Mystic Riot for Jodie Lagogiane.

Jamella Jet got through to third by the back straight before charging into second, closing in on Mystic Riot, as they turned for home.

Backmarker Watch The Wasp then raced up and collided with Jamella Jet which resulted in him dropping back to third, 3-1/4 lengths away from the winner.

Riverside-based owner David Booth was elated with his youngster's courageous performance.

"For a young dog to be running in the world's richest race series at just his 13^th start is amazing," a proud David Booth said on Sunday.

"He was only a baby at his first few starts here but since he has gone to NSW under Andrew's (Crouch) care it's just been amazing to watch him perform at that level."

Bred locally by Karlene Cuthbertson at Lillydale, Jamella Jet is a littermate to well graded sprinters Apollo Blue (11 wins), Dooper (14 from 40 starts), Reiki Master (8 wins), Fasika (6 wins) and Jacks High (6 wins).

Jamella Jet started his career, under the guidance of Booth, in a heat of the Maiden Thousand Series at Hobart with a victory over Wynburn Jackson.

He then finished second in the semis before running a gallant third to Hunkapapa in the final.

A victory at Devonport just 12 days later saw the promising pup then embark on a mainland campaign, which has resulted in a further four victories from nine starts.

"You pay close attention to his four wins at Bulli, Maitland, The Gardens and Richmond and all wins have been in best of the night figures. His trials early on around Devonport showed he had speed though if he'd timed the start, he can be right up in the race," told Booth.

David Booth is no stranger to racing classy dogs, racing champion sprinter Jamella Prince (x Malawi's Prince), winning 22 of his 33 career starts, including the Silver Chief Classic at Sandown Park in 1999.

The light brindle chaser won other major events throughout his career, including the Launceston Breeders Classic and South Australian Derby.

"I bred Jamella Prince from Bindari Fox (Chariot Supreme x Fox's Image) from her first litter," he told.

"The dog won his first nine starts and was then sent to Allan Britton when he won the SA Derby. When he retired to stud, he was the leading sire here in Tasmania for 12 months.

"I sold the dog for $50,000 to Ireland where he was very influential in their lines," he recalled.

Jamella Jet will be taking on Australia's best sprinters in Friday's semi-finals at Wentworth Park.

"The dog has a bright future ahead win, lose or draw this Friday night. He has a long way to go before he matches Jamella Prince's career, but I firmly believe that Jamella Jet is a faster dog and hopefully in time his box manner's will come to fruition," David said.

"At the moment I'm just rapt in the dog and to make it this far to the semi-final stage of the Million Dollar Chase is a huge achievement to Andrew Crouch and his family."

Booth reported that his next litter is due to come along Friday week when proven broodbitch She's All Class is due to whelp her fourth litter to multiple group winner and Melbourne Cup champion Aston Dee Bee.

The semi-final winners will get the chance to chase the biggest prize in Australasian greyhound racing history on Saturday week, October 20 with $1,000,000 awaiting winning connections.