Before the race, it seemed that everyone wanted to tug you coat and give you a reason why Wow wouldn't win Sunday's Group 3 Ladbrokes Goulburn Cup Final - except somebody forgot to tell Wow.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Danielle Matic-trained superstar made light of what was said to be an awkward draw, he didn't get crossed or checked at the start, nor did held up early as some had tipped. What he did do was literally gave nothing else a chance, leading from boxrise to win the Cup in 24.22s, about a half-length adrift of his own 24.18s track record.
Wow becomes just the third greyhound to win back-to- back Goulburn Cups, joining NOVEMBER PRINCE (1987-88) and Awesome Hustler (2007-08).
The win also saw his prizemoney surge past the $400,000 mark, with his 27th win from 44 starts.
"I don't read the papers or look at anything," Danielle said of the lead-up to the Final. "It's just another race, you just treat it as another race, you do the same thing with him, you don't change his routine, or do anything differently.
"He went awesome. I was very happy with the time, and the fact he jumped so well, and 10.66s second section is flying."
While Danielle didn't train Wow 12 months ago - Karina Britton handled the star in his 2020 Cup win - Sunday's Cup success is the third for the Matic family, with Danielle's mother Ruth winning the event in 2009 with Shamus O'Shaw, and again the following year with Joey Gez.
"It's a nice one to win. It took us a very long time to win the first Goulburn Cup we won, and we have also had a few seconds in it," Danielle said.
"He's an easy dog to train, probably just the nerves get to you a bit, just the pressure, but he puts in all the time."
Asked if she ever has had a dog like Wow, Danielle replied: "Probably not ... no. Not me personally. He's very fast, but he's just a beautiful dog too."
Danielle said she is hopeful of now gaining a start in the Top Gun, and also has next month's Melbourne Cup heats on the schedule.
Casual Glance which was heavily backed to beat the favourite and was expected to lead, but came out in third spot and produced yet another strong performance to run into second place near the line, albeit 33/4 lengths behind the winner.
Victorian Derry Express - who looked a real threat on the home turn when Wow drifted up the track and he charged along the fence - held on well to grab a close-up third.
In the day's other feature, it was expected that odds on favourite More Sauce would be the one, having broken the 350m track record in last week's heats.
But when he was not able to lead the field, and received a squeeze early, his winning chances disappeared and sadly for connections, he is still chasing that elusive feature race win.
Victory went to Ray and Sharon Webster's Father Rick who improved his record to seven wins from 11 starts with the 19.60s victory.
Second went to Andrew Bell's Sizzle Fly, with Glen Goodwin's Radiation third. More Sauce was just behind the placegetters in fourth.
"We are over the moon," Ray said. "He's a good dog, very honest as his record shows.
"We did target this race before we step him up [in distance]."
The Websters bred Father Rick as well as having bred his mother and grandmother.
"I'm ecstatic, very, very happy. He's a very good dog," said Sharon. "We get a little bit emotional when we win a final."
Added Ray: "It never gets old. It's been a fair while between drinks for a good one like this."
While you're with us...
Did you know the Goulburn Post is now offering breaking news alerts and a weekly email newsletter? Keep up-to-date with all the local news: sign up here.
