Course specialist leads field home in cup race

Course specialist Jimmy Hall led all the way to win the $5000 Willy What Wairarapa Cup, feature race at the Wairarapa Greyhound Racing Club's meeting at Solway Showgrounds yesterday.
It was Jimmy Hall's fourth start on the track for his Levin owner-trainers Allan and Janet Hall and his fourth success but he had to withstand a paralysing finishing burst from Tirau visitor Thrilling Bonny to grab the major prize.
Whereas Jimmy Hall was in front and out of trouble Thrilling Bonny, having his first start since December and his first look at Solway, got well off the pace early and was still three or four lengths off the pace making the home turn.He charged home along the rails at a great rate of knots but a brave Jimmy Hall held on to win by the narrowest of margins.
"He loves this track and he loves the grass,"" Janet Hall said of her charge."He seems to grow another leg here."
The Halls also trained third placegetter Marty Hall who got the perfect trail in behind his kennelmate through most of the 545m and kicked on well over the closing stages without ever looking likely to beat the first two.
The class two, middle-distance feature attracted a small field of six runners but a memorable finish with the Tokoroa-trained Bold Jenni getting up to beat the pacemaking Swappa Crate in the last stride.These two had a battle royal over the last 100m with Bold Jenni putting her nose in front right on the line
The Morris kennels of Woodville are always a force to be reckoned with at Solway and yesterday's twilight meeting was no exception.They won the first two races on the card with Storm Large and Dilana and made it three for the day when Little Gymnist scored later on. They also paraded the hot favourite Aranui Flash in the hurdles but a mechanical problem saw the traps open early in that race and it was abandoned after the field covered two laps even though there was no lure to chase.
One of the most impressive efforts of the day came in the class-one sprint, when Crystal Cyrus dashed to an early lead and was never headed, running the 290m in a slick 17.08secs.
Wairarapa GRC committee member Lorraine McCook tasted success when Skippy Bojangles upset in a maiden sprint and Tokoroa trainer Mike Lozell, who had won earlier with Bold Jenni, ended the day on a high note when Zac Attack blitzed a handy field in the class four and five sprint.