By MATT NICHOLLS
BARRY West expects his kennel star Takeshi to be hard to beat in Saturday’s Armidale Cup after an explosive heat win.
West said Takeshi would benefit from having his first start over the 520m box at Armidale and would be hard to run down.
“He’ll back up all right and he’ll definitely be better for the run,” West said.
“The other heat winners ran faster times, but if he gets to the front on Saturday he’ll be hard to run down.”
Takeshi came to West and his wife Maureen from the Queensland kennel of Ian and Kerry Hoggan, who ironically will be out to spoil the West’s party on Saturday.
The Hoggans are hoping to take Armidale Cup honours with Cauthen, who won his heat in a slick 30.35.
“It’s funny because Takeshi was actually gifted to us,” West said.
“Ian has been a good friend of mine for a lot of years and he thought he would be better in a smaller kennel.”
Takeshi had just one win to his name for the Hoggans, but now has won nice races since being based at Beechwood, near Wauchope.
Saturday’s Armidale Cup should be an exceptional race after all three heats proved competitive.
Easy Drinking was the fastest heat winner, stopping the clock in 30.12 after leading all the way from box one.
Armidale Greyhound Racing Club president Garry Carson said he was hoping for another big crowd after a record turnout on Saturday.
“We had a lot of people come down from Guyra to help celebrate Ben Vidler’s birthday,” he said.
“Ben turned 23 and he had a dog in one of the earlier races, so there were quite a few people there.
“If his dog gets a run this week there’ll be a few people come back, as they all said they enjoyed it.”
Box draws were not completed at the time the Armidale Independent went to press.
Racing starts at 1pm on Saturday and includes the final of the Mitchell Family Grade 5 Series (440m) and the Maiden Series final (365m).
ARMIDALE CUP FIELD: Takeshi, Violent, Cauthen, Yo Cool Maxie, Easy Drinking, Cosmic Tina, Rose Radiant, Birdie. Reserves: Noir Lee, Mint Splice.
