Trainer Leaves Admiration At The Door For Egg

TRAINER Craig Chappelow plans to cast his admiration for champion She's A Pearl aside when he goes about plotting her downfall in Saturday night's semi-finals of the Group 1 Golden Easter Egg.

Chappelow, an unabashed She's A Pearl fan, will line-up Embrace in semi-final three of the group 1 showpiece from an "ideal" box eight, the same draw she negotiated to race away for victory in last year's Group 1 Peter Mosman Opal.

FIELDS AND FORM WENTWORTH PARK SATURDAY NIGHT

Last Saturday night, Embrace roared into Golden Easter Egg calculations with a slashing 29.59 heat success at big odds, her first win since landing a heat of the Paws Of Thunder in January.

"She went off the boil a bit so I really eased up on her work and freshened her right up for this series," Chappelow said.

Embrace was a bit of an upset win in @ladbrokescomau #GoldenEasterEgg Heat 7 tonight at @wentyparkgreys, and trainer Craig Chappelow thinks the longer the odds, the less pressure on her! We spoke to him after her PB 29.59s victory…#thedogs #GEE #LGEE pic.twitter.com/2GIPeaR8dv

— The Dogs (@Thedogs_com_au) March 25, 2023

"I changed a few things up to hopefully get her to begin and it did the trick. Hopefully we can repeat the dose on Saturday night but it doesn't get any easier.

"Five of the eight runners in her semi are group 1 winners. And of course there's She's A Pearl, she's like a grand old boxer, you can never count her out."

She's A Pearl has been installed a $2.40 favourite for Saturday night's qualifier following an indifferent heat win where she scored in less than commanding fashion.

But while the effort may have suggested there's a chink in the defending champion's armour, Chappelow has been around long enough to know that true champions have a habit of finding a way.

"It was only a few weeks ago she broke the track record at Temora defending her Cup title," Chappelow said.

"Just when you think she might be going over the hill she produces another amazing performance. For our sake I'm just hoping that's not on Saturday night.

"We've raced her a few times and haven't beaten her yet but not many can say they have.

"Even if we could run second to her and qualify for the Egg it would be a dream come true."

While the Golden Easter Egg doesn't carry the million dollar purses of some other events, the $300,000-to-the-winner feature is considered the holy grail of NSW greyhound racing.

"When I was younger I worked at Wentworth Park for a good 10 years and got to see champions like Rapid Journey and Brett Lee win the Golden Easter Egg up close," Chappelow said.

"It's the race every trainer wants to win, it just has that aura about it. Being a three week series there's nowhere to hide."

If Embrace can qualify for next week's Golden Easter Egg decider it will cap off a huge night following the announcement this week that Farrell's Pet Food is sponsoring the Group 1 Association Cup.

The in demand 4×2 Biscuits which were brought back to life by Chappelow's partner Samantha, have been hugely popular with trainers both in NSW and throughout the country.

As part of the sponsorship of the Association Cup, trainers will be able to purchase the product for $44 down from the usual $55 until Easter Saturday.

“Sam is the brainchild behind it all – she never stops working,” Chappelow said.

“The response we've been getting is amazing. It's been a long, hard slog to get to this point and we always said we'd only do it if we could replicate and improve on the old Farrell's brand.

“Partnering with the GBOTA is really exciting. Their CEO Allan Hilzinger has been great to work with and hopefully the promotion draws some positives and opens up the product to a range of people.”

Adding further intrigue to semi-final three of the Easter Egg is the appearance of Melbourne Cup hero Yachi Bale following his rip-roaring Wentworth Park debut last week.

Series favouritism is held by SA star Victa Damian which is a short priced favourite in semi-final four.