The Sapphire Crown Affair

[Wandering Eyes]

Co-trainer Kel Greenough concedes the world’s highest stakes earning greyhound, Wow She’s Fast ($2,379,495), “doesn’t appear to be racing as well” as 12 months ago.

Wow She’s Fast ($2.30F) claimed last year’s Group 1 Sapphire Crown for ‘Team Greenough’ (Kel & Jackie), scoring by 7.6L in a scintillating 28.817sec, on May 19.

It’s the second-fastest time ever semaphored over 515 metres at Sandown Park – only bettered by Aston Rupee (28.790sec) on September 9, 2021.

Wow She’s Fast (Feb ’20 My Bro Fabio x Fair Of Face) has also registered the fifth-fastest sprint (28.927sec) around the Lightwood Road circuit – established in last year’s G3 Launching Pad final on April 14.

And she’s one of only 12 greyhounds to break the magical 29-second barrier at SP.

Wow She’s Fast may not be in such a rich vein of form, but it’s difficult to consistently emulate those performances even by the lofty standards the sport’s wonder woman keeps setting herself.

“Given prevailing weather conditions, I don’t think any greyhound could run those times,” Kel Greenough said.

“It’s a bit hard to tell whether she’s near her best, as Jackie and I are not long back from a holiday, and she has also had a short let-up.

“She’s still in good nick but probably not in quite the same condition as last year.”

“She’s still in good nick but probably not in quite the same condition as last year.”

Wow She’s Fast – a winner of 19 races (with three seconds) from 30 starts – will be having only her fifth start since winning a second successive The Phoenix on December 17 last year.

She was scratched from this year’s Australian Cup Consolation (February 25) and then a Perth Cup heat (March 11). She hasn’t raced since finishing a luckless seventh in the inaugural $300,000 to-the-winner The Sandgroper (April 14) at Cannington.

“She pulled up a little sore in a wrist following her second placing in an Australian Cup heat,” Greenough said. “And she had a bad travel experience flying over to WA, resulting in her losing some weight.

“I’ve given her one trial in the lead-up to the Sapphire Crown. It was good, but it wasn’t great… It was a long ‘box to box’ at Sandown and it was the best of the day.”

But “Sharni”, as she’s affectionately known at home, hasn’t lost her ‘Wow factor’ – she’s still got her mojo!

She will start her tilt for successive Sapphire Crowns when she lines up in Heat 1 (Race 1, 6.12pm) at Sandown Park on Thursday night.

Wow She’s Fast (Box 3) is a raging hot $1.50F on Sportsbet (sponsor of the Sapphire Crown series) to land her heat and progress to the $100,000 to-the-winner final on May 18.

She’s also $2.90F nominal favourite – ahead of Baby Jaycee and Kelsey Bale, both $3.80, and $5 chance Magic Muffin – to snare the all-female event. This ‘fab four’ are the only greyhounds under double figure odds in pre-post betting.

Three-time G1 runner-up Baby Jaycee (Box 6) and Launching Pad Runway finalist Magic Muffin (Box 2) – $2.05F and $2.25 respectively – are engaged in Heat 2 (Race 2, 6.34pm).

Three-time G2 ‘country cups queen’ and dual G1 third placegetter Kelsey Bale (Box 6) lines up as $1.75F in Heat 3 (Race 3, 6.52pm).

It certainly would make for a pulsating final – a promoter’s dream – if the quartet were to qualify. And that’s something Greenough welcomes with open arms.

“Everyone wants to see the best dogs get through – it’s better for the sport.”

Wow She’s Fast boasts a phenomenal CV at Sandown Park – 12 wins from 15 starts. She’s also four from six exiting the ‘white’ alley.

And she’s ultimately chasing her fourth G1 triumph in the Sapphire Crown series, having also taken out the 2022 Maturity Classic and 2023 Temlee.

But the big question is: will Wow She’s Fast pursue a third The Phoenix and potentially an unfathomable $3m in prizemoney?

Click HERE  for the Sapphire Crown heats market

“Realistically, it’s a long shot,” Greenough said. “But if she holds up and deserves her chance, why wouldn’t you have a crack?

“It’s a possibility if she retains her enthusiasm for racing. However, there would be plenty of bridges to cross before we got there.”

Wow She’s Fast received an ‘ASM honour’ during a gala launch on Monday night as one of four themed showcase exhibits in the Australian Sports Museum as part of Victorian greyhound racing’s 150^th anniversary (1873-2023).

“I’m not going to single her out; she’s probably there due to her earnings record,” a modest Greenough said. “But it’s great for the sport to be racing for this type of prizemoney.

“And it’s fantastic to have greyhound racing displayed at the MCG. We’ve got to be humbled by the experience and enjoy it… We’ve come a long way in a short time.”

FAST FACT: With ‘winged paws’, Wow She’s Fast landed a $750,000 first prize in the inaugural 2021 The Phoenix and collected a $1,000,000 winner’s cheque in the 2022 The Phoenix.

She clocked 29.66sec in 2021 and 29.84sec in 2022, meaning her $1.75m haul for both events equates to a mind-boggling $29,411.76 per second!

WATCH: ‘Wonder woman’ WOW SHE’S FAST (B5) lives up to her racing moniker in last year’s Sapphire Crown.

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