THE showpiece event of this year's Anzac carnival at Dawson Park is shaping up as one of the most open in recent memory with Dubbo Greyhound Racing Club president Shayne Stiff believing any of the eight contenders are capable of taking home the $25,000 prize today.
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After last week's heats the stage is set for a bumper day of racing and Stiff says the excitement is building.
"It's the best day of racing Dubbo has ever seen, with over $50,000 in prizemoney given away on the day - which is what goes in a city meeting so it's very big and the start of us building towards next year to try and make the Gold Cup worth $30,000 and give away $60 to $70,000 on the day," he said.
There are some big name runners in the day's main race, the Rocky Ridge Gold Cup final (516m), and with $25,000 on the line Stiff is expecting a top quality event.
"It's a very, very good field and any one could win it with a bit of luck," he said
"Zipping Tess might improve on last week.
"Her first run at Dubbo, the eight, Kulu Special, has boxed well but Toby Weekes' dogs didn't box well at all at six and seven while Haves is a very good dog and always go well at Dubbo so it's very open."
Zipping Tess drew box four and will be one of the favourites after winning its heat in 29.99 seconds while despite their draw, the Weekes pair of Freddy's Smile and, in particular, Soviet Missile will fancy their chances.
In the day's other major race, the $10,000 Peg and Bill Miller Memorial Diggers final (516m), track record holder Long Range looks hard to beat but Stiff said the Darren Sultana-trained Oh So Striking will be one to watch.
The Dennis and Ann Barnes-trained trio of Fancy Lola, Fancy Chance and Fancy Top will also be in contention and Dennis said the event will have extra meaning for he and his wife with the race being named after Ann's late parents.
"Winning this race would mean everything, especially to my wife," Dennis Barnes said.
"It was a very emotional day for us when we qualified three dogs.
"I can only imagine how it would be if one of them manages to win.
"We wouldn't care which of the three won, it would just be great for any of them to get up."
The other major events on the rich day of racing include the $3000 Dawson Plaster Works Gallipoli final (400m), which looks to be a race between two, Blue Thunda and Pure Blood, while the winner of the www.bettowin.com Slouch Hat series final will collect $2000.
Today's racing begins at 1.54pm with the Peg and Bill Miller Memorial at 3.34pm and the Gold Cup jumping at 4.12pm.
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