Cup up for grabs

Right: Cranbourne trainer Jason Thompson will pin his Melbourne Cup hopes on Uno Joel tonight.

By Brad Kingsbury
CRANBOURNE greyhound trainers Darren McDonald and Jason Thompson will box three of the eight starters in tonight’s (Thursday) $210,000 Schweppes Melbourne Cup at Sandown Park.
Thompson’s runner Uno Joel will start from box seven after winning his heat and defeating hot favourite One Tree Hills and last year’s Cup winner Betty’s Angel.
The black dog has already secured $48,840 in stakes with 11 wins from 37 starts, but will likely be the race outsider as he is yet to break 30 seconds for the 515-metre journey.
McDonald has two chances in the rich Group 1 final with All Caution taking box two and Shanlyn Prince starting from box six.
The master trainer was unlucky not to have even more chances in the race with two of his other four heat entries, Bye Bye Bones and Cool Effort, finishing second and filling the two reserve runner spots in the final field.
McDonald will be hoping for Shanlyn Prince, an $8 chance in the final, to jump cleanly from the outside and get across the field after winning his heat in a slick time of 29.8 seconds last Thursday.
The champion dog is owned by well-known Garfield trainer Lyn Larson and has already won $118,000 in prize money over its career.
Larson is known as an astute trainer through the dog racing community and was at first reluctant to transfer Shanlyn Prince to McDonald, but now has nothing but praise for the Cranbourne-based trainer.
“I didn’t want him to go and when (husband) Robert and (son) Shannon suggested that Darren might be able to get the absolute best out of him, I was very put out,” she chuckled.
“But he works very hard at it and he is a thorough professional. You wouldn’t get any better than Darren and Shanlyn Prince wouldn’t be anywhere else.”
McDonald’s other starter, All Caution, is on his way up and has earned more than $41,000 in his 21 starts, which includes 10 wins.
The Melbourne Cup will jump about 9.45pm and the field is as follows: 1. Slater, 2. All Caution, 3. Tasman Queen, 4. Miss Mini Mouse, 5. Talk’s Cheap, 6. Shanlyn Prince, 7. Uno Joel, 8. Give Me Five, 9. (reserve) Bye Bye Bones, 10. (reserve) Cool Effort.
In the other feature event of the night, the Group 2 Bold Trease Carnival Cup over the 715m course, rising superstar Miagi turned in a stunning Sandown Park debut to win his heat in best of night 42.18 seconds and will start a hot favourite in the race.