Victorian Greyhound of the Year - 2005

Who will be crowned?

Three kings of the sport – Pure Octane, Sun Hero and Trewly Special – are 2005 Victorian Greyhound of the Year finalists.

A seven-member GOTY panel recently created a short list following a round-table discussion.

But who will be the king of kings?

The 32^nd GOTY winner will be announced during a gala evening, to be held at Crown Entertainment Complex on Friday March 3, 2006.

The glittering awards ceremony – complemented by an Irish theme – is greyhound racing’s night of nights.

Here’s the GOTY finalists’ Group race statistics during 2005:

PURE OCTANE

(Whelped January 2003 – Token Prince x Elusive Rebel)

Owner: Dare To Dream syndicate

Trainer: Darren McDonald

Race starts: 22 – 13 wins, 2 seconds, 2 thirds

Winner: Group 1 Australian Cup; Group 1 National Sprint Championship; Group 1 Paws Of Thunder.

Finalist: Group 1 Winter Carnival Cup (3^rd); Group 1 Maturity Classic (4^th); Group 1 Topgun (6^th); Group 2 Peter Mosman Classic (3^rd); Group 2 Shootout (4^th).

SUN HERO

(Whelped March 2002 – Lansley Bale x Spicy Shiraz)

Owner: Scholars Choice syndicate

Trainer: Andrea Dailly

Race starts: 25 – 11 wins, 7 seconds, 2 thirds

Winner: Group 1 Perth Cup; Group 2 Warrnambool Cup; Group 3 Warragul Cup.

Finalist: Group 1 Topgun (2^nd); Group 1 Golden Easter Egg (4^th); Group 2 Cranbourne Cup (2^nd); Group 3 The Temlee (5^th).

TREWLY SPECIAL

(Whelped June 2002 – Brett Lee x Chloe Jones)

Owner: Dennis Trewin

Trainer: Tina Womann

Race starts: 37 – 7 wins, 8 seconds, 9 thirds

Winner: Group 3 WA Interstate Challenge.

Finalist: Group 1 Golden Easter Egg (3rd); Group 1 Topgun (4^th); Group 1 Winter Carnival Cup (5^th); Group 1 Brisbane Cup (7^th); Group 1 Sandown Cup (7^th); Group 2 Shootout (2^nd); Group 3 The Temlee (4^th); Group 3 Perth Cup Consolation (7^th).

A total of 16 greyhounds received GOTY nominations during 2005:

First-round nominations – Ben’s Fury, Collide, Lukeamy, Pure Octane, Rocky, Sun Hero.

Second-round nominations – Fenceline, Foreign Legion, Hades Rocket, Magic Trance, Maureen Shirly, Pacific Sky, Trewly Special.

Third-round nominations – Closing Argument, Pororoca.

Final-round nomination – Go Forever.

Pawnote: Each GOTY panellist allocates five votes, with a minimum of one vote received by each finalist (i.e. 3-1-1 or 2-2-1).

INSERT: AS BOX STORY

VICTORIAN GREYHOUND OF THE YEAR – HONOUR ROLL

1973 Lizrene                            1974 Temlee                            1975 Dynamic Dean,

1976 Bolta’s Gift                      1977 Ibrox                               1978 Darville’s Flyer

1979/80 Tempix                       1980/81 Leader’s Jester           1982 Flat Flyer

1983 Quick Pulse                     1984 Sheila’s Teresa,               1985 National Star

1986 Pharaoh’s Mask              1987 Bold Trease                     1988 Hay Dinney

1989 Fair Sentence                  1990 Eureka Man                    1991 Modern Express

1992 Pace Galore                    1993 Diamablue                       1994 Light Of Fire

1995 Bonjase & City Blitz        1996 Wylie Boy                       1997 Ringside Fire

1998 Totally Ablaze                 1999 Kantarn Bale                   2000 Osti’s Joker

2001 Brett Lee                         2002 Carlisle Jack                    2003 Bombastic Shiraz

2004 Whisky Assassin