Group 2 racing in Invercargill & stunning Phoenix victory
Peter Fenemor • December 16th, 2025 8:42 AM
The Southland GRC wraps up the year in style when they host two Group 2 finals tomorrow at the world’s southern most located greyhound track Ascot Park.
The classy Dave Fahey and Katie Wyllie prepared Jerry Cola was in a world of his own when he demolished his 457m rivals in last week’s heat for the $20,000 Far South Challenge.
He skipped through his 457m heat task, clocking a slippery 25.64 and he has come up trumps with the box draw, securing the one trap.
“That’s the perfect draw for Jerry. His second phase acceleration is brilliant. He would be the quickest dog we have trained in terms of having early speed. He’s all good and is ready to go,” advised Fahey.
Kennelmate, the recent NZ Cup winner Original Warrior, was super brave when he overcame jostling along the rail to book his place in the field via his 7.30 length third to Stuck Throttle.
“I thought Original Warrior was gutsy in his heat after he got knocked around. I’m not so sure about his draw (2) as he can move away from the rail,” explained Fahey.
Stuck Throttle was powerful when he looped his heat rivals from trap-eight which set up his strong 25.74 heat win and he’ll race in the TAB 3 rug.
“He received a clear early passage which enabled him to power up and away. Obviously its much harder in the final – I’m happy with his draw and he has come through his heat good,” confirmed Cleeve.
Galway Cup
The recent rivalry between the classy stayers Chief Dribble and Opawa Shirely continues in the $20,000 Galway Cup over 630m.
They travel south after both stayers won Addington 681m races with the other finishing second in those recent races.
The Matt Roberts and Jack Johnson mentored Chief Dribble’s outstanding staying feats have been well documented, having won 29 of his 52 staying assignments.
“Yes, he ran through the line strongly over 525m (Thursday), which is what we wanted to see. Drawing inside (2) is a massive advantage over 630m at Invercargill. We are hoping he can make a clean beginning, and he stays underneath Opawa Shirley,” advised Johnson.
Opawa Shirley is perfectly suited to the 630m distance, however her best chance here is to lead her main rival out of the three-trap for her conditioners Dave Fahey and Katie Wyllie.
“We have kept Opawa Shirley fresh for this race, so hopefully she uses her pace and can lead them out. I would like to see her apply pressure to Chief Dribble and she can make it an interesting race if she does that,” suggested Fahey.
Charley Horse finished third in those recent 681m races, and his conditioner Garry Cleeve is looking to repeat his training victory in this event from last year when he prepared Know Defence to win the event when it was raced over 732m.
“It’s a harder challenge this year. Charlie is racing good, although he needs to lift against the inside drawn pair,” suggested Cleeve.
Deadly Avenger storms to A$1,000,000 payday
In what has been described as a masterstroke kennel transfer saw the West Australian greyhound Deadly Avenger comprehensively tearing apart his star-studded rivals to secures victory in the world’s richest greyhound race, the A$1.65 million The Phoenix on the Melbourne based The Meadows track.
In an agreed move, Deadly Avenger was transferred into leading Victorian trainers Jason Thompson’s kennels just a week before the rich race at the request of his slot holder David Bourke Constructions.
In a pre-race interview published last week by Trackside.co.nz, leading Australian greyhound analysis Brennan Ryan told us:
“For the first time in greyhound racing, when Deadly Avenger was moved from George Borg (Perth) to leading Victorian trainer Jason Thompson specifically for specialized race training, solely to compete in The Phoenix—a situation I have never seen before.
“This slot race concept has always sparked unique ideas, and the challenge involving Deadly Avenger is a first. I have a lot of respect for the dog, and the connections will be eager for a shot at more Group race success.”
Deadly Avenger seized control of the 525m race when going down the back straight and he raced away for his emphatic four-length, 29.65 win.
The Melbourne Cup hero Canya Mayhem was gallant finishing second, holding a 1.20 length advantage over the third placed Accredited.
Attending The Phoenix evening at The Meadows were Christchurch GRC Board members Katie Wyllie and Jonathon McInerney who travelled with Christchurch youth representative Arlica Lange.
“It was an amazing experience being at The Meadows – so cool. The meeting was so professionally run. We had so much support over there.
‘We were standing by the slot holders for Deadly Avenger during the The Phoenix. What an experience that was,” explained Wyllie.
“On Friday we all visited leading trainers David Geall’s kennels with David having just got back from winning the Hobart 1000 (Gr. 1) the night before.
“He has Koblenz there and it was fantastic to pat him as we have a promising litter by him from Fairly Able,” added Wyllie.
Arlica Lange was equally impressed saying, “It was a pretty unreal experience – I’ve never seen anything like that before.
“We went to leading owners Vincenzo Tullio’s property where I got to interact with some puppies. It was an unreal setup there. I would do it all again,” enthused Lange.
Tullio was involved in the ownership of the Jason Thomson trained classy greyhound Explicit who won last year’s The Phoenix and was retired as the winner of A$2,101,065.
