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Daniel Pell with Nell Devere on Melbourne Cup night. 📷 Clint Anderson

  • Wednesday, 29 Jan, 2025,
  • by Jason Adams

Early look | Launching Pad contenders

Slots are now on sale for the 2025 Launching Pad series – the most exciting series in the country for juvenile greyhounds coming through the ranks.

Slots can be purchased by any registered person, syndicate, registered Club or association. It leaves the door open for opportunity for deals and to have a greyhound run under a slot that buyers have no formal connection to. Plus there’s plenty to win with strong consolation opportunities.

It’s restricted to greyhounds with 1-6 career wins and no more than 30 starts. It produces superstars annually – some have great success during the Launching Pad, for others it’s a very strong apprenticeship.

Just a handful of names out of last year’s series – Excavation, Canya All Class, Ethanol Water, Stormy Day, Lakeview Emily and Mepunga Reward.

Now is the time participants and fans start to identify potential contenders.

A handful of interest that may be heading that way:

Dalwhinnie
Already a household name after he broke the Wentworth Park track record. He’s going to be off the scene for a while longer but could be resuming at just the right time. He’s had eight starts for four wins, so he’s eligible at the moment. Will trainer Bill Butler see it as a lucrative option? We’ll see.

Dalwhinnie (2) bolts in at Albion Park

Texas President
Viewers of Sandown Park over the past few weeks will be familiar with this lad. He’s won his past two, with strong run home times of 10.50 (5.90, last 100m) and an even better 10.42 (5.85, last 100m) – for context, Flying Zulu ran home in 10.32 which was the best of the night. He’s punching above his weight for his age at the moment given he doesn’t turn 2-years-old until May. He’s back at Sandown Park this Thursday in Race 10 and for the first time meets Grade 5 company.

Texas President (2) rattles home to win

Nell Devere
Four starts, three wins and they’ve all been very good. She’s just returned from a spell and won the opener at The Meadows on Saturday night. Her 300-400m split was a nostril off the best of the night. She looks like an all-round performer for the man they call Buddah, Daniel Pell.

Nell Devere (3) returns impressively at The Meadows

Laura Keeping
I was lucky enough to be on-track when she won the G1 National Futurity at Wentworth Park recently. I reckon she’s very good. The tricky part for Jay Opetaia will be what’s next, because she’s won five races, another heat and final win would have her ineligible. But for the type of series the Launching Pad is and the prize money on offer, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see her put in cotton wool then popping up in heats. But, it’s a fair wait.

Click here to see her G1 National Futurity win

Shima Stan
We had George Dailly on Grey Areas not long ago and he labelled Shima Stan as the Dailly’s best at The Meadows on that particular Saturday – he won easily. Shima Stan lines up in tonight’s Western Districts Derby at Ballarat which is another test for him. He’s just seven starts into his career and he looks like he knows what he’s doing. The Launching Pad could come at the perfect time but again, it’s a while to wait if he’s on the fringe of eligibility this far out.

Shima Stan (5) holds off some heat

Paw Gunner
He can run like the wind but he’s got some serious work to do. He started his career flying, won three races at The Meadows with his slowest time being 29.84 – still quick. He’s had 11 starts since then with an average starting price of around $2.60 and has run a place just once. He’s got x-factor, if he turns his form around he could be a heavyweight in a Launching Pad series.

Paw Gunner’s (2) last win back in August

Like all past editions of the Launching Pad, fast young dogs seem to come out of the woodwork from across Australia to target the series. There’s probably plenty that are yet to race that we’ll see head that way.

It may be worth keeping a close eye on Maiden heats coming up at The Meadows on February 2, with the final on Australian Cup night a rich one.

Thursday April 3
Launching Pad heats

Thursday April 10
Launching Pad semi-finals
Runway heats (consolation series)

Thursday April 17
Launching Pad final
Launching Pad consolation
Runway final

Jason AdamsJason Adams

Jason Adams

Jason Adams has been involved in greyhound racing for 10 years. He spent almost all of that time at Sandown Park before recently transitioning to GRV. He’s also a part of the Sky Racing team and regular contributor on RSN. Part-owner of promising racehorse Keshi Boom.

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