THE CONTENDERS GROUP 1 MEADOWS CONFERENCE AND EVENTS CENTRE AUSTRALIAN CUP FINAL (525m) RACE 8, 9.42pm
1 DIEGO BALE TRAINER: Andrea Dailly STARTS: 41: 15-6-4 MEADOWS RECORD: 20: 8-3-1 PB THIS TRACK: 29.64 PRIZEMONEY: $73,980 GROUP RACE HONOURS: 3rd G1 National Derby PAST 10 STARTS: 2465132161 TRAINER SAYS: "He led right from the start in his heat and managed to hang on to win despite pressure coming from behind from Dalgetty, who is a greyhound with enormous ability. When Diego Bale begins well he can be very hard to beat, as evidenced by the time he ran in his heat (29.64sec).
$8.50 EARLY SPEED 66KM/H 
2 DYNA DOUBLE ONE TRAINER: Andrea Dailly STARTS: 53: 30-9-6 MEADOWS RECORD: 16: 10-2-3 PB THIS TRACK: 29.43 PRIZEMONEY: $910,316 GROUP RACE HONOURS: 1st G1 Melb Cup, 1st G1 Rookie Rebel, 1st G1 Bris Cup PAST 10 STARTS: 1653511111 TRAINER SAYS: "He is the most magnificent dog you could ever come across and with three Group 1 wins to his name he has plenty of experience on the big stage. He comes home like a train every time. His recent campaign over the middle distances saw him break two metropolitan track records.
$1.95 EARLY SPEED 68KM/H
3 ASTON BOLERO TRAINER: Jason Thompson STARTS: 30: 19-3-4 MEADOWS RECORD: 2: 1-0-0 PB THIS TRACK: 29.88 PRIZEMONEY: $68,125 GROUP RACE HONOURS: None PAST 10 STARTS: 2311411811 TRAINER SAYS: "He has shown plenty of early speed over 400-460m racing in the country, but he needed to do it at The Meadows and it was great to see him bring that pace into his heat win last week. That was just his third 500m run ... but it was a really good effort to hold off a classy dog like Unlawful Entry." $7.50 EARLY SPEED 67KM/H
4 XTREME KNOCKA TRAINER: Jason Thompson STARTS: 92: 33-22-10 MEADOWS RECORD: 17: 5-4-4 PB THIS TRACK: 29.80 PRIZEMONEY: $224,690 GROUP RACE HONOURS: 2nd G1 Hume Cup.
PAST 10 STARTS: 1315511351 TRAINER SAYS: "He is a warrior. He has had over 90 starts and is racing as well as he was when he was 18 months of age. He has been racing solidly for over two years and he just keeps producing. Every greyhound in the Australian Cup is a chance to win it, but realistically Xtreme Knocka will need a lot of luck." $26 EARLY SPEED 66KM/H
5 BLACK FRENZY TRAINER: Jason Thompson STARTS: 31: 18-2-2 MEADOWS RECORD: 1: 1-0-0 PB THIS TRACK: 29.95 PRIZEMONEY: $37,414 GROUP RACE HONOURS: None PAST 10 STARTS: 2421116411 TRAINER SAYS: "He has been in my care for a couple of months having arrived from Jason Mackay in NSW in great order. He's not strong enough to come from behind to win over 525m in this class, so he'll need to lead. He proved how good he is in Sydney, holding a track record at Richmond over 400m." $16 EARLY SPEED 68KM/H
6 MOREIRA TRAINER: Jason Thompson STARTS: 31: 13-7-3 MEADOWS RECORD: 11: 4-3-1 PB THIS TRACK: 29.67 PRIZEMONEY: $107,425 GROUP RACE HONOURS: 2nd G1 Rookie Rebel PAST 10 STARTS: 2521111621 TRAINER SAYS: "He ran a gallant second behind Dyna Double One in the (G1) Rookie Rebel (600m) two weeks ago, and he is very versatile having been racing over 500 and 600m successfully. I have no doubt that he has the ability to win a major G1 like the Australian Cup. He just needs a bit of luck." $18 EARLY SPEED 68KM/H
7 ERNEST BALE TRAINER: Steve Collins STARTS: 47: 16-9-6 MEADOWS RECORD: 19: 6-2-4 PB THIS TRACK: 29.89 PRIZEMONEY: $81,790 GROUP RACE HONOURS: None PAST 10 STARTS: 1148163151 TRAINER SAYS: "We've been fortunate enough to win a few Group races with some extremely talented greyhounds and, while he is right up there in terms of ability, the difference is they had early speed. He won't be vying for the early lead, so he is relying on the front-runners encountering interference." $35 EARLY SPEED 64KM/H
8 POP THE CORK TRAINER: Jason Thompson STARTS: 22: 13-0-1 MEADOWS RECORD: 3: 2-0-0 PB THIS TRACK: 29.61 PRIZEMONEY: $64,033 GROUP RACE HONOURS: None PAST 10 STARTS: 5153116411 TRAINER SAYS: "Of my five Australian Cup runners I rate him as my best chance as he is well drawn in box 8, having won three times from four starts from that draw. He was the fastest heat winner and, importantly, he flew early in his heat (4.98) to the first section which is fast enough to lead most races." $2.70 EARLY SPEED 68KM/H
9 SHARED EQUITY TRAINER: Angela Langton STARTS: 52: 23-6-3 MEADOWS RECORD: 7: 2-1-1 PB THIS TRACK: 29.83 PRIZEMONEY: $229,125 GROUP RACE HONOURS: 1st G2 Ballarat Cup, 2nd G2 Bendigo Cup, 2nd G2 Cranbourne Cup PAST 10 STARTS: 1152217432 $17 EARLY SPEED 68KM/H
10 DALGETTY TRAINER: Jason Thompson STARTS: 22: 14-4-0 MEADOWS RECORD: 4: 3-1-0 PB THIS TRACK: 29.42 PRIZEMONEY: $205,990 GROUP RACE HONOURS: 1st G1 Temlee, 1st G2 Geelong Cup, 1st G3 Silver Bullet PAST 10 STARTS: 1111121412 $3.90EARLY SPEED 68KM/H