Unlawful Entry will take more than the hopes and dreams of (trainers) the Bravo family into Friday night’s $108,000 Group 2 Energis Ballarat Cup (450m).
Instead, he’ll have a legion of followers – with many from the Oaklands branch of Riding Develops Abilities – who received a $10,000 winner’s cheque when he took out the TAB Great Chase in October as well as the equivalent of 10 per cent of any prize money he earns for the ensuing 12 months.
The funds from the Great Chase triumph are set to go towards building a new disabled toilet block at the club’s headquarters in Oaklands.
“It’s one of things that we’ve been lacking and it’s very important to have it. It makes it a lot easier for our riders,” Riding for the Disabled Oaklands President Fiona Orr said.
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On Friday night the group is in with a chance of collecting another $7,500 if the Knocka Norris-sired star wins the Ballarat Cup (10 per cent of the $75,000 first prize), $2,200 (second) or $1,100 (third).
Ms Orr said the group had been following Unlawful Entry’s progress closely since the Great Chase.
“I think it’s just amazing that we’ve been given this opportunity to follow him to start with,” she said.
“It’s become such an event for our group too, because we’re going to see him when he races at the Meadows and so forth.
WATCH: UNLAWFUL ENTRY’S STUNNING BALLARAT CUP HEAT WIN IN 25.25
“The money going towards this disabled toilet is something which we’ve been trying to raise for a long time, as we’re a not for profit organisation.”
Riding for the Disabled, which is entirely operated by volunteers, has about 53 riders who regularly take part in club events – something which has been happening for about 40 years at Oaklands.
“The way the TAB Great Chase connects with the disability sector is huge. We were involved last year, and thought ‘why not do it again?’ this year,” Ms Orr said.
“The way the TAB Great Chase connects with the disability sector is huge and I think it’s just amazing that we’ve been given this opportunity to follow Unlawful Entry.”
“It’s been nice to form another social group within the club and they’re wanting to go out and watch him now.”
Unlawful Entry has stamped himself as one of the state’s premier chasers since taking out the Great Chase gong, with a stunning 29.29sec triumph in the Cup Night Sprint at Sandown (Replay) last month among the highlights of his short career.
With fixed odds of $21.00 heading into the Ballarat Cup, punters have Unlawful Entry as one of the outsiders – but are wary of his ability to motor home.
Ms Orr said that while she won’t be able to attend the meeting, she is confident many volunteers will be tuning in via Sky Channel.
“At this stage, I’m not sure if anybody will be going up – but I’m sure the majority of us will be watching it on TV,” she said. “We’re very excited.”
The race is set to take place at 9:28pm on Friday, with the first of the evening kicking off at 7:08pm.
WATCH: Catch all the fun an excitement of Victorian greyhound racing’s number one community day, the TAB Great Chase Grand Final.
