Big Energy Secures The Sandgroper Slot

POWERHOUSE sprinter Big Energy will return to where it all began for the $600,000 The Sandgroper (520m) in April.

The prolific winning son of Aussie Infrared has been snapped up by slot holder Mintbet for the greyhound leg of the second staging of the Western Trilogy, the world's only tri-code slot race series.

Trained by Kel and Jackie Greenough – who guided Wow She's Fast to back-to-back The Phoenix triumphs – Big Energy had six of his first seven starts at Cannington, the scene of The Sandgroper, before heading to Victoria to further his racing career.

Included in his big race performances is runner-up efforts in the Group 1 Adelaide Cup, Group 1 Melbourne Cup and Group 2 Cranbourne while his breakthrough big race victory came in last year's Group 3 Sandown Shootout in sub 29-second fashion.

There's a BIG BIG Contender in this year's Sandgroper.

BIG ENERGY IS MINT ????

APRIL 18 x Cannington 520m x $600k ????@TAB_touch @TABradio @TheDogsWA @RacingWA_ @Shortte pic.twitter.com/Pmqdmsj2Se

— MintBet (@Mintbet) February 16, 2024

Big Energy's inclusion in The Sandgroper sees him join Explicit (Punters HQ) and Morton (TABtouch) in the field.

It's expected the 14-time winner, born and bred in WA, will first contest the Group 1 Perth Cup (520m) at Cannington before connections set their sights on The Sandgroper slated for Thursday, April 18 to launch a huge week of WA racing action.

Big Energy's The Sandgroper is Mintbet's first foray into slot racing which has exploded in Australasian racing in recent years.

Last year's The Sandgroper was annexed by hometown hero Crumble Monelli.