Launching Pad Tickets Moving Fast

THE lucrative Launching Pad series at Sandown Park is gathering huge interest from interstate trainers with half the tickets already sold for the event.

ENTRY forms for the fast approaching lucrative Group 3 Launching Pad Series at Sandown Park are moving fast.

"At last count half the tickets have already been sold which is very encouraging," said Sandown media manager Mick Floyd.

"And looking through the names a strong number of those sales are to interstate trainers."

With over $420,000 in prize money to be shelled out across the three-week series, the anticipated strong interstate contingent for the 2020 edition is of little surprise.

Open to greyhounds with 1-6 wins and no more than 30 starts at close of nominations, heats of the $150,000 to-the-winner series are slated for Thursday, March 26 before the semi-finals and final  are staged the following two Thursdays.

"One of the big attractions to the race now is the opportunity to transfer the entries closer to the race. What may be going well now may not be closer to the race and vice-versa. It gives slot holders the opportunity to be more flexible with their investment," Floyd added.

Making the Launching Pad such an attractive proposition is the steady flow of prize money away from the series winner, with connections of half of the greyhounds contesting the series guaranteed a return.

One trainer eyeing off this year's Launching Pad is Hunter Valley trainer Darryl Thomas, earmarking the rich series for some hugely talented youngsters about to hit the track.

At Ladbrokes Gardens last Friday, Thomas produced Xerri in a 515 metre performance trial, the son of Fernando Bale and Miss All Class rattling the clock to run a sublime 29.36.

"That was the first 500 of his life," Thomas said on Monday. "But nothing this dog surprises me, he's one hot pup.

"You don't like getting ahead of yourself but there's no telling how good he is. I gave him a post-to-post at The Gardens a week or two back and he went 24.20.

"I'm planning to get him into a maiden at Maitland next week and if he wins then it will be straight to Melbourne to get ready for the Launching Pad. It's probably a big ask but you need to aim towards something."

And while Xerri is on a Launching Pad path, Thomas hasn't dismissed a trip to Melbourne either with his supremely talented litter-brothers Whitfield and Coniglio, each turning in brilliant performance trials of their own recently.

"Whitfield is just coming back from a fibula injury now so he's a bit behind the other two – I've got no solid plans for the two of them yet," Thomas added.

"The option is to keep them for the Magic Maiden at Wenty but I'm not sure about exposing them to young inexperienced dogs there so early on."

Meanwhile, Thomas has elected to bypass this week's Group 2 Bulli Gold Cup with La Grand Quality, the Warragul Cup winner's next target the Group 2 Horsham Cup later this month.

"I trialled him at Bulli last week and he went 22.20 with a 6.30 run home but I've decided to miss it and go to Horsham," Thomas said.

"The plan is Horsham Cup, Maitland Cup and then Warrnambool Cup … after that I'll probably look at going to two turns with him." 

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