West On Augie Proves His Class
20 May, 2018
Greyhound
There was plenty of hype around the Chris Halse-trained West On Augie heading into the final of last night’s Group 2 WA Derby (520m), and he didn’t disappoint, recording the biggest win of his career to date.
After finishing at the tale of the field in the Group 1 Perth Cup final (520m) on April 21, West On Augie then went to Mandurah, where he was also unplaced in the Mandurah Derby final (490m).
The son of Te Amo then bounced back to his best form to take out his heat of the Derby last Saturday night in comprehensive fashion.
West On Augie was sent out a $1.32 favourite last night, and won accordingly.
Unlike the Perth Cup, there was no trouble at the start for the talented chaser as he flew out of the boxes to record a first sectional time of 5.40 seconds.
His rivals then couldn’t make any in roads into the early lead West On Augie, as he strolled to an eight length victory.
For Halse, it was his first WA Derby success, while his partner Linda Britton won three Derby’s in 1998, 2000 and 2012.
It was also another Derby success for two of the state’s more prominent greyhound owners Craig and Gary Weston, who featured in the ownership of Britton’s 1998 Derby winner Reggemite.
Weston said he was excited about West On Augie’s future, and had the potential to be a Group 1 winner.
“That was fantastic,” he said.
“We are so excited because he jumped nicely, he got to the front, and he really tried to show everyone what he could do.
“To win in that field by 10 or so lengths was a wonderful effort, so we are really proud of him.
“One of the better ones we had earlier on was Reggemite, but he certainly is one of the smarter ones at such a young age.”
Weston said his star chaser would likely head to the east coast to target feature races, but would leave the final decision to Halse.
Eighty Eight finished second for Paul Stuart, while Aeroplane Barney finished third.
Meanwhile, Poppy Monelli looks set to take plenty of beating in the final of next week’s Group 2 WA Oaks, after recording the fastest heat time last night.
Poppy Monelli was one of four David Hobby-trained chasers to make to the final of next week’s $60,000 event, with Petria Monelli taking out the last heat.
Stuart also had success in the heats with Starlight Yoyo winning the second quickest heat.
Poppy Monelli drew box two for the final, while the other two heat winners Starlight Yoyo and Petria Monelli drew box six and eight respectively.
Tim Walker