Things begin on Friday with the running of the heats for the 485m Group 2 event.

With the focus on the Australian Cup Carnival at the Meadows at the moment, Horsham’s local cup is poised to attract some of the best greyhounds in the country who missed out on that feature.

The final, on Saturday, March 10, sits nicely before the three-week Golden Easter Egg Carnival in Sydney, ensuring greyhound racing in the Wimmera is firmly in the national spotlight.

Before all the action of the cup, all eyes will be on what would normally be a run of the mill final for greyhounds limited to a maximum of four wins. 

However, the final has assembled a terrific field of promising young sprinters headlined by Nash Road Betty for Stephen Whyte, who hails from the small Western Gippsland town of Bunyip. 

Nash Road Betty was having just her seventh start last week and gave the 410m track record a nudge at 22.968 seconds, only .002 outside the current mark. 

Tomorrow, she will be up against the three litter mates also from the Whyte team. Weeona Pearl, Weeona Raph and Weeona Annie were all bred by Whyte and they give him four of the eight starters in the final. 

The hardest to beat may be Naiqama who went within three lengths of Nash Road Betty’s time and draws a favourable wide draw.

Horsham’s Ron Rowe continued his rich vein of form when Shamrock Valley notched his maiden win after four placings.  Shamrock Valley met a suitable field and was sent out the $2.30 favourite and led all the way to defeat Avartar Maximus for Helen Hartigan. 

For Avatar Maximus, it was his eighth placing in what has been a frustrating run in the search for his first win.

Horsham Greyhound Racing Club is a proud sponsor of the Horsham Fishing Competition held on the same weekend as the cup and is honoured to be able to link with such an important community event.