The Dubbo greyhound community had plenty of reason to cheer on Saturday when locally-owned chaser Scott Keeping pulled of the sport’s version of ‘mission impossible’ – he beat the legendary Fanta Bale.
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The Group 3 Summer Cup (720m) at Wentworth Park looked set to follow a familiar pattern when Fanta Bale ($2.10 fav) roared across the field to lead from box eight.
Having won nine of her previous 10 starts, it was an easy assumption to make.
But Scott Keeping, who had previously been the bridesmaid to the champ in a heat of the Sydney Cup, hadn’t read the script.
The $17.00 chance, who was lining up alongside littermate Packey Keeping in the feature, was able to overcome a moderate beginning, push through the field and set out after the champ.
Rounding the turn it appeared as though Fanta Bale had enough of a gap to claim the win but the Bekim Bale x Kim Keeping dog took giant strides late to go on and win by a head.
The win was a big result for owners Shayne Stiff and Charmaine Roberts, who were at a birthday party and couldn’t be trackside.
“We’ve got dogs all over the place at the moment. Charmaine is going to Bathurst on Monday and I’m going to Lismore for some big heats up there on Tuesday so we stayed home and went to a birthday party,” Stiff said.
“But we gave out a big roar when he got there. I think when Fanta Bale went over the led we thought we’d be happy if one of them got into the placings but Scott kept coming and coming and when they crossed the line it was just amazing.
“Fanta Bale is one of the greatest staying dogs we’ve seen. She’s won over a million dollars in prizemoney but Packey finished second to her last week in the Bold Trease and Scott beat her on Saturday night so it’s great to have dogs that can race at that level consistently.
“They’ve won about $55,000 in prizemoney in the past couple of weeks, so we’re certainly enjoying the ride.”
Stiff also heaped praise on the pair’s trainer Brett Bravo, who has only had the duo for a short period of time.
“There’s not many staying races out this way so we sent them to Brett because there’s good money for stayers down in Victoria and he’s doing a great job with them,” Stiff said.
“They will go to heats of the Sale Cup now and the final of that is on Boxing Day if they can qualify.
“We’ll have to run into Fanta Bale again down there but as long as the dogs are competitive and racing well, we’ll be happy.
“It’s not always going to be possible to beat her but it’s something we’ll be able to talk about for a while.”