Grafton greyhounds: Thunderbolt history reveals top contenders

Greyhound racing news from around the NSW regions | June 12

If history again repeats, the chances are the winner of this year's $40,000 Ladbrokes Thunderbolt at Grafton on June 20, will be either McKeon, Solar Spectrum, Shorty Boy or Tornado Ethics.. They were the heats winners at last Sunday's Grafton meeting, and that has been a recipe for success when it comes to the Thunderbolt.. The shortcourse series is conducted across eight tracks with four greyhounds from each set of heats qualifying for the semi-finals..

This year's semi-finals will be held on June 14, with first and second in each semi qualifying for the final.. A look at history is intriguing.. In 2022, the inaugural year of the Thunderbolt, all four Grafton heat winners made it through the semis and into the final, with one those four, Integrity Mate winning and another, Orson Laurie finishing second..

In 2023, three of the four Grafton heat winners made the Thunderbolt final including the winner Vamoose, and third placegetter Crumble Monelli.. Again in 2024 all four Grafton heat winners qualified for the final, including that year's champion Cash On Delivery and runner-up Hit the Switch.. Then last year two of the four Grafton heat winners made the final, with Badger's Beast winning and Divorce Source running third..

Shorty Boy has drawn box eight in semi two, Tornado Ethics has box three in semi three, while McKeon (box five) and Solar Spectrum (box eight) have both been drawn in semi four.. It's a dilemma the NSW rugby league selectors face constantly, and there will be some difficult choices for the NSW Origin Greyhound selectors in finalising the team to take on Queensland on June 25.. While many greyhounds, such as Magpie Hector in the staying event, essentially select themselves, such is the depth in the sprinting ranks that finding just four to represent the Blues at the Q2 Parklands will be difficult..

Another tough decision will be which greyhound represents NSW in the match-race.. NSW have two greyhounds which are speed machines in Cumbria Jack and Gold Force;. both Group One winners in Queensland..

Gold Force collected his Group One win on June 4 when he was brilliant in the $150,000 Ipswich Cup over My Boy Bingo and Cumbria Jack.. Local trainer Michelle Sultana is the caretaker of the greyhound for its Queensland campaign but regular mentor Denice Warren was trackside along with owner Michael Boots for the victory.. Gold Force has now won 19 of 31 starts and amassed $280,000 in prizemoney..

Interest in the upcoming GRNSW Puppy Auction continues to grow with downloads of the auction catalogue almost doubling in the past week.. For all the details of how to register to bid and to download the catalogue, visit thedogs.com.au/puppy-auction.. This article was produced as part of an ACM partnership with Greyhound Racing NSW..