Melbourne Cup Beckons For Great Chase Hero

DR. Tucker raced his way into the record books with a brilliant victory in the Group 3 Great Chase Final (525m) at The Meadows on Wednesday afternoon.

In a trademark demonstration of sustained speed, Dr. Tucker charged to the front heading past the post the first time and was never headed, defeating a gallant Earn The Answers by 1 ¾ lengths with Sovereign Wind third.

"The superior chaser won the race … he's just ruthless the way he races," said trainer Bill McMahon.

"I haven't seen a young dog like him for a long time. His last three wins he's copped bumps and hits early on but he just rolls with the hits and comes out the other side.

"He's just an out and out chaser and is still getting better."

With a superb field of prodigiously talented youngsters lining up in Wednesday's $47,000 to-the-winner finale, it was always going to take an above average performance to land the prize.

And that's precisely what Dr. Tucker delivered, extending his record to eight wins from 11 career starts with a slick 30.05 victory.

"You look at the time and say he only went 30.05 but when you consider the trouble he got in early the run was a lot better than that," McMahon offered.

"That's as good a field of young greyhounds as you'll see and he had to do it the hard way to win. In six months I reckon you'll see a lot of those dogs on Wednesday contesting much better group races.

"I gave my dog  a slip at Sale on the Saturday going into the final the track was very slow. I put my second best dog around and he ran home in 10.68 … Dr. Tucker ran 10.28. He's a sensational dog and is still improving."

McMahon will now turn his attention to next month's TAB Melbourne Cup with Dr. Tucker, confident his budding star can mix it with the best of the best in the lucrative group 1 series.

"With a dog like him you say no to nothing … you don't need to cuddle him the way he races," McMahon said.

"He's pulled up super from Wednesday so I'll sit down and work out grades and how to get him into a prelude and go from there. But the Cup is the aim for sure … his trials at Sandown have been outstanding."

Dr. Tucker's Great Chase victory delivered a cool $10,000 to Ararat-based Wood ‘N Crete Suppliers, a company which focuses on offering employment to people with disabilities.

In 2019, sprinting megastar Simon Told Helen used his Great Chase victory as a springboard to a sensational racing campaign which has so far netted no less than four group 1 victories.

And given Dr. Tucker's fast rise through the ranks, the son of Bernardo looks destined to make his own mark at group 1 level, perhaps beginning with next month's Melbourne Cup.