ONE of the Richmond Race Club’s biggest nights of the year is coming up on Friday, as it hosts its Richmond Riches final at the Londonderry-based track.
The 535-metre final on Friday night will see the winning trainer net $40,000 for the win, and plenty big names have lined up for the feature race.
The favourite is semi-final winner Two Times Twice, trained by Cranebrook-based John Finn but owned by Hawkesbury based D and P Syndicate. The syndicate has two other runners in the final, also trained by Finn.
One of the members of the syndicate, Peter McDermott, said despite the favourite tag being applied to Two Times Twice, he was no certainty.
“We'll have to have luck go our way,” he told the Gazette. “We're going to have to rely on a clean run.”
“The dogs have earned their places, they've come through the heats and taken on all comers. The quality of the field improves each time and we have to step it up.”
McDermott said he was stoked to have Blue Moon Rising and Veloce Nero in the final alongside Two Times Twice, who were all dogs he had bred.
“I am extremely happy. It was a very competitive final, it is certainly no forgone conclusion that Two Times Twice will be the winner,” he said.
“The four dogs John has for us have won 33 races combined. They have been incredibly consistent and out stretched our expectations. We can't believe how well they've gone.”
Another of the challengers to the final is Londonderry’s Sam Sultana, whose dog Uncle Donuts won his own semi-final race last Friday night.
Sultana’s charge won his heat at the starting price of $.370. The favourite in that race, Sky Wave, was trained by his brother Victor.
Victor did not miss out, however, with Rev Fred Sloy also making it through to the final after winning the second semi-final.
Sam Sultana said he thought a good box draw for his two-year-old dog had given him a crack against some of the much faster competition in the final.
“He is a genuine chance in a very hard race. He is not the fastest dog in the race but he is a very consistent and a good beginner, and he has drawn a good box,” he said.
Sultana said Uncle Donuts was entering the race in some pretty good form.
“He’s won two races in town at Wentwothville and he's won four of his last five races so he has been going well lately,” he said.
Richmond Race Club’s Chris Carl said it was a great time of year for the club.
“There a lot of prizemoney involves with $40,000 to the winner,” he said.
“We always get a big crowd in for this race.”
Carl added that Susan Long, a local to the area, would be shaving her head on the night, in an attempt to raise money for the Leukeamia Foundation.
Long is hoping to raise $5000, and has promised if she gets to $8000 she will go to a number three clipper cut.
On November 25 this year, the club will hold its auction for the 2020 series.