june Greyhound of the Month

SWIFT FANTASY

Not for many years - if ever, has a greyhound caught the general public and mainstream media's attention as much as Swift Fantasy has done in her short New Zealand career to date.
Her atypical racing style of dropping right out the back at the jump and storming home from seemingly impossible positions has really set the racing public's imagination alight and she has developed something of a cult following already.
The first of her two June starts was the prestigious Duke of Edinburgh Silver Collar Final (779m) with a monster $80,000 stake attached and she duly delivered as race favourite despite not being the fastest qualifier for the final.
Her 46.51s winning time was slightly slower than her Silver Collar heat win (46.38s) but she kicked away impressively up the Manukau home straight to hold a 5-¼ length margin on the line over a game Rasmah.
Swift Fantasy is by former Irish Greyhound of the Year Premier Fantasy and out of Swift Flyer, whose littermates include the likes of stayers Texas Gold, Quidame and Lucy's Light.
The Seamus Sutcliffe owned chaser was then included in a newly created four-dog winner-take-all invitation race called the Top Dog Challenge and much interest surrounded the Australian entrant Nellie Noodles, who had been in dominant form over the longer trips on her side of the Tasman.
Swift Fantasy proved too good again and comfortably won the event in 46.51s with the Ben Craik trained Rasmah the runner up again in similar circumstances.
With the $20,000 winner's cheque from that 779 metre event added to the $45,000 from her Silver Collar victory, it was a happy month all round for her connections.

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By Scott Guthrie