70 Owners On The Brink Of Racing Fairy Tale

A syndicate comprising 70 owners are on the brink of living one of racing’s greatest fairy tales in tonight’s TAB Million Dollar Chase Grand Final.

A syndicate comprising 70 owners are on the brink of living one of racing's greatest fairy tales when Awesome Catch takes his place in tonight's TAB Million Dollar Chase Grand Final (520m) at Wentworth Park.

And despite being considered one of the outsiders to scoop the $1m first prize, syndicate head Joe Lanutti isn't prepared to write off the chances of a greyhound that is providing a big team of owners the ride of their life.

"I truly believe he's a genuine top four chance – he's just such a consistent chaser," Lanutti said.

"But it's a fantastic race with so many great stories … it's just a privilege to be in the race before anything else."

It was back in April that Lanutti identified Awesome Catch as a greyhound with the potential to contest the lucrative Masters Meteor series for elder greyhounds, the $100,000 to-the-winner finale of which will be staged tonight.

"That was the idea but I stuffed the dates up – he wasn't eligible by about a month so that idea went out the window," Lanutti said.

"When we formed this syndicate we offered a package of three and Awesome Catch was almost an add on. The main two was a young greyhound named Undercut and Zipping Marshall.

"They are going well too but Awesome Catch is now racing for a million dollars.

"He's gone to the top of the list and whatever the result on Friday I think he's still got a lot left ahead of him."

Winner of 30 races during his career, Awesome Catch progressed through to greyhound racing's richest race with a powerhouse come from behind 29.90 semi-final victory last weekend.

It extended the group winning sprinter's record to 11 wins from 18 starts since joining the kennels of Jodie and Andy Lord whom Lanutti attributes the four-year-old's new found success.

"They're the best trainers in the country – without question," Lanutti said.

"The job Jodie and Andy have done with this fella is remarkable.

"When he strung four wins together at Dapto when we first got him Andy said we had a fair dinkum chaser on our hands.

"He's given a big group of owners a great ride."

With Awesome Catch's expansive ownership group situated all around the country, only a small band will be trackside tonight.

"We teamed up with Tsols Tips syndications with these greyhounds and all the owners have varying degrees of interest," Lanutti said.

"Nick Lalli who lives in Adelaide owns 10 percent and is racing for $50,000 while Richie Edwards who's been in a lot of our syndicates could win $25,000. They're just great stories which is what racing is all about.

"Hopefully we can write our own chapter on Friday night."


 

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