Afire Announces His Arrival In Speed Star

AFIRE, Hector Fawley and Like Wildfire were the ‘star' performers when Speed Star racing returned to Sandown Park on Wednesday night.

Afire upstaged more high profile rivals to claim victory in the 515m match race series, while course specialist Hector Fawley and boom stayer Like Wildfire set Sandown alight with near-record performances in the 595m and 715m events.

Afire, trained by Jason Sharp, was the ‘clubhouse' leader coming into the last of six 515m matches, courtesy of a 29.235sec victory over Adhana Rico in the fourth heat.

The time shaded Afire's previous Sandown PB of 29.237sec, established just three starts earlier, by just .002sec.

All eyes – particularly those of the Sharp family and owner Ed Burrett – were on the clock in the climactic final duel between the one and two seeds, series favourite Big Energy and Transponder.

But, as form experts had predicted, the two heavyweights came together and while Transponder, trained by Jason Thompson, prevailed in 29.260sec, it wasn't enough to knock Afire off the top of the leaderboard.

Afire, a son of Bernardo and Eau Rouge, has now nine of his 28 starts, with his Speed Star triumph boosting his prizemoney by $15,000.

? 515-METRE SPEED STAR ?

Congratulations to AFIRE for being the overall winner of the 515-metre #SpeedStar at @sandowndogs.

AFIRE narrowly edged out TRANSPONDER as the fastest greyhound at the meeting. #GreyhoundRacing #PremierRacing pic.twitter.com/XmY10GP0Zq

— WatchDog Racing (@WatchDogRacing) August 23, 2023

"It's an honour to win it, to be honest," proud owner Ed Burrett told Jason Adams on Sky Racing.

"It's the purest form of racing. I'm rapt and I'm happy for the dog to show what he can do."

Hector Fawley – the latest in a long line of Harry Potter-themed stars for Ian and Lisa Cockerell – underlined his standing as the ‘Minister' for middle distances at Sandown with a ‘magical' performance in the 595m Speed Star. 

The son of Bernardo and Rolanda Hooch, also bred and owned by the Cockerell family, started $1.04 in the fourth and final match-up over 595m and lived up to the prohibitive quote to career away with the series.

Hector Fawley scorched early, with his 8.97sec first split just .01sec outside Dyna Patty's section record.

Smoked ‘em

LIKE WILDFIRE has demonstrated his staying superiority as the overall winner of the 715-metre #SpeedStar at @sandowndogs in 41.370 seconds.

LIKE WILDFIRE was too slippery for a determined ZIPPING KANSAS in their match race.#GreyhoundRacing #PremierRacing pic.twitter.com/gnpfjWhP5B

— WatchDog Racing (@WatchDogRacing) August 23, 2023

Lornett Express couldn't keep up as Hector Fawley romped to a 12-length victory in a scintillating 33.67sec, his seventh win from eight starts over 595m at Sandown and just half a length outside his PB.

Only a tenth of a second outside the track record held by Collinda Patty, Hector Fawley was a commanding overall winner, ahead of Mark Delbridge's littermates Valor Bale and Ailee Bale, which won the first and third heats in 34.01sec and 34.04sec respectively.

"He was brilliant tonight," Ian Cockerell said.

"It's just amazing when Lisa doesn't handle him, it seems to make a difference!" he added with a laugh.

"He's a superstar dog. He's done it many a time. Let's just hope he can continue on."

Speed Star night opened with two match races over 715m, with Robert Britton's boom NSW import Like Wildfire making it two from two in Victoria with a near-record 41.37sec victory in the second heat.

Like Wildfire, a dual middle distance record holder in his home state, had the option of contesting either the 595m Speed Star, where he produced the fastest qualifying time of 33.78sec in a trial, or the 715m event, courtesy of a 41.41sec victory at his Sandown debut.

Master distance conditioner Britton pulled the right rein, as Like Wildfire ($1.20) opened up a decisive lead over NSW visitor Zipping Kansas, holding on to score by 1.69 lengths, his ninth win from 11 starts.

Like Wildfire was less than three lengths outside the 41.16sec course record, held by his ‘uncle' Here's Tears, with his mother, Freaky Tears, a superbly-bred daughter of Fernando Bale and Tears Siam.