The Semi - Finals of The Australian Cup certainly sprung a few suprises and many fancied greyhounds such as Explicit who was above mentioned Cain Bale and Hector Fawley also failed to flatter as it appearewd that it was a night for the speedsters and those with early pace as My Magic Man and Fernando Phil overcame class with just sheer early pace to leave their rivals in their wake with two major boilovers.
Fernando Phil trained by Michelle Mallia dropped a major bomb on punters when at $23.00 he led all the way from box four to leave the likes of short priced favorite Explicit and Mepunga Shine chasing dust with a brilliant 5 second first split to the first turn and leaving nothing to chance in Semi - Final number three.
The night then ended even worse for punters when in Semi - Final number four My Magic Man at $11.00 from box seven for Brooke Ennis led the fast footed Schillaci to the first turn and upset major players Cain Bale $3.00 and Hector Fawley $3.20. The two surprise Semi - Final wins truly opened up the final field for The Austrlain Cup on Saturday night at The Meadows in what is now a very competitive and even field.
Morton holds a 29.53 personal best at The Meadows. The son of Tommy Shelby has really taken all before him in the last few weeks. His heat and final win in The Gold Bullion at Albion Park back in January which was worth $250,000 to the winner was nothing short of pro like as he won his heat in 29.90 beating talented chaser Magistrate and then overcoming the squeeze box to win in 29.91 for the 520 metres and defeated the likes of All Natural and Bear's Bullet as a $3.10 favorite.
The box draw for Saturday has really done him no favors and he will have to overcome some obstacles if he is to win. Early spped will come from the likes of Schillaci box two, My Magic Man box four and Fernando Phil box eight. It would be a major surprise if he came out as well as what he did last week in his Semi - Final when he led Ike Bale.
It's unrealistic to think he can lead this field, however if he gets a sit on either of the three pacemakers he should be too strong and the experience of winning a major race in Qld earlier in the month from box 5 should have given him much experience in overcoming bad boxes against elite opposition.
Statistically he has drawn box five in four of his career starts for three wins and a third and as was noted last week when we tipped Morton to win his Semi Final. Last week was the first time at The Meadows he ever drew inside anything better than box four. And in doing so ran his personal best time of 29.53 seconds for the 525 metre journey which also happened to be the best of night run at the track.
He is our on top selection again for this week however the likes of Launch Code and Alpha Zulu must be kept safe as they may the best positioned in running if Morton is to find trouble. It's not always the best dogs that win Group One races because the opposition is alway deep. Morton however does seem the form dog and it would be no surprise if he improved a length on his personal best also as he continues to mature.
