Johnny Football scores another Group 1 victory
Peter Fenemor • December 22nd, 2025 2:26 PM • 4 min read
Pace and strength carried the Lisa Cole mentored star greyhound Johnny Football through to his convincing win in the $30,000 Spion Rose final over 520m at the Hatrick Raceway on Friday evening.
Johnny Football settled back in the field after jumping from the four-trap however a first turn skirmish which involved numerous runners saw the renown 650m/660m stayer drop down onto the rail, receiving a clean racing passage around the first turn.
Meanwhile kennel mate Criminal Minds looped around the outer to seize the race lead and set up the pace down the back straight, with Johnny Football beginning to slice into his advantage.
The staying strength owned by Johnny Football kicked in during the run home with him extending powerfully to secure his second Group 1 520m victory at this venue after finishing as the runner up in this race last year.
The George Furiuga owned and bred son of Shima Shine and Super Tora stopped the clock in 30.22.
It was the Dylan Voyce prepared Magic Jonty who finished resolutely 3.25 lengths behind to claim the runners up prize. It was a tidy performance by the first Kiwi bred finalist to finish with the Jose Arthur bred and owned son of Fabregas and Oakmont holding a 1.25 length margin over the third placed Criminal Minds who gamely stuck to his task.
“Once Johnny got onto the rail with clear racing air in front of him I thought then he would be awfully hard to hold out with his staying strength.
“We haven’t been able to get any staying races for him lately, therefore this race fitted in perfectly as he came into the race in a fresh state.
“It is especially pleasing for us to win another Group 1 race with Johnny Football for George who has been long time supporter of our kennels,” expressed Brendon Cole.
Johnny Football has now been to the races on 75 occasions. He has won 48 of those, while placing in another 15, accumulating a very tidy $230,378 in career stake earnings.
Another long time loyal kennel owner Craig Rendle shares in the ownership with Lisa Cole of the talented up and coming sprinter Mojito Dreams who added to his quickly growing list of race wins when he prevailed in the feature $10,000 Baldrick’s Cunning Plan Sprint final over the 305m dash.
Mojito Dreams is a son of the Group 1 winner Big Time Lantao by Superior Panama who has now won 10 of his 17 races.
It was his pace that saw him cut out his 305m assignment in 17.44 when leading home his kennel mate Fire Warning by a 2.25 length margin. The was a further 2.75 lengths back to the Glen Hodgson prepared third place getter Fergie’s Girl.
“Mojito Dreams has a bright future in from of him as he has box speed and sheer pace,” confined Cole.
This article was made possible with the kind support from the Wanganui GRC
