‘Spritz’ chases greatness!

[Wandering Eyes]

A ‘great’ decision by breeder-owner Scott James resulted in a $47,000 windfall today at The Meadows.

Based at Waubra (just over 30km north-west of Ballarat), James was finding it difficult to juggle work as full-time curator for Ballarat Greyhound Racing Club with training greyhounds.

James guided All Spritzed Up (Aug ’20 Ritza Lenny x All Dolled Up) to five wins –all successive – from seven starts.

Admitting “it hurt”, he then transferred his pride-and-joy – All Spritzed Up – to champion Rowsley trainer Anthony Azzopardi.

And it paid off in spades when All Spritzed Up ‘sparkled’ in the $70,335 Group 3 Great Chase final (525m).

Hailed as a star of the future, All Spritzed Up ($2.50F) overcame a couple of ‘anxious moments’ in transit to overhaul tearaway leader Like An Arrow ($7.70) by 1.2L, with Lady Lily Hook ($12.40) a further 4.8L away third, in a slick 29.88sec.

All Spritzed Up 2

All Spritzed Up 3

All Spritzed Up with Anthony Azzopardi

Great Chase Final Post-Race 1

Great Chase Final Post-Race 2

Great Chase Final Post-Race 3

Great Chase Final Post-Race 4

Great Chase Final Post-Race 5

Great Chase Final Post-Race 6

It was the second-fastest time since the Great Chase final switched exclusively to The Meadows in 2007. Race time honours rest with 2015 winner Unlawful Entry (29.83sec) – around 1L quicker than All Spritzed Up.

As for the gallant placegetters in the final, Like An Arrow is trained by Vicki Wisener whose partner, Glenn Rounds, won the Great Chase in consecutive years with Living Proof (2013) and All Strung Out (2014). He finished seventh with Reloaded last year.

Lady Lily Hook is trained by Robert Neocleous, who finished sixth with Ruby Ha Ha in 2011.

Rated the “next big thing”, All Spritzed Up stamped his ‘greatness’ on the 20^th staging of the series, as he was also easily the fastest semi-final winner last week in a slashing 29.78sec.

Azzopardi – whose only other Great Chase finalist was Aston Geisha (6^th) in 2018 – has certainly put the polish on All Spritzed Up.

He’s now won seven races (with two seconds) from 10 starts and $84,700 in prizemoney.

ALL SPRITZED UP (B3) ‘targets’ LIKE AN ARROW (B2) in a thrilling climax to the Great Chase series.

Community group ‘The Support People’, which was randomly aligned with All Spritzed Up – earned $10,000 courtesy of his great win.

The Support People (previously known as Next Step Disability Service) facilitate the recruitment of experienced, qualified support workers, offering a career path and security in exchange for consistency of care for its clients.

With offices in Ballarat and Bendigo, The Support People believe that those with a disability deserve to have choice and control over how they live their lives to the best of their ability.

The Great Chase – an integral part of GRV’s ‘Community Events Series’ – has for two decades now offered fantastic opportunities for up-and-coming greyhounds as well as providing a wonderful social outlet for Victoria’s disability sector. This year’s series was held across 11 of the state’s greyhound racetracks.

First run in 2003 – and won by Brumby Lad – GRV’s Great Chase series involves a community program which has raised more than $750,000 for groups that care for the intellectually and physically disabled.

WATCH: ALL SPRITZED UP (B3) mows down ‘pilot’ LIKE AN ARROW (B2) over the concluding stages of the Great Chase final.

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