Right: Tooradin greyhound trainer Amy Ralph with Cranbourne Cup winner Sonador. Picture: Luke Plummer.By Amy Taylor
The three-year-old brindle bitch won the Group 2 cup final after easily defeating rivals Coulta Bomber and Avon Lee in a time of 30.33 seconds over the 520-metre course.
The win was achieved from box three in the final and followed a great run of 30.24 in its heat the previous week.
Sonador, born in 2004, was bought as a pup and pre-trained by Ms Ralph who is based in West Gippsland, along with her four sisters, brother and parents.
The Cranbourne Cup winner spends her time training the talented bitch and helping maintain the family owned boarding kennels in Tooradin, alongside her father, fellow trainer Stan Ralph who ‘took her under his wing’ at an early age.
“We all put in, it’s a real team effort. We’ve all grown up with the dogs,” she said.
With the generous first prize of $35,000, 26-year-old Ms Ralph intends to spend some on a Bali holiday with her mother and re-invest a portion of the winnings back into her newest litter of nine puppies.
“It costs $60 per puppy for four weeks to send to puppy farms, otherwise, we pre-train them. It could be a lot of trouble; it could be a lot of fun,” she said.
The family relived the glory as they scrutinized the race several times on a big screen upon their return home to bask in their victory on Monday night.
However the hard-working Ralphs were straight back to work and their training routine on Tuesday morning, preparing the prize-winning bitch for her next assignment and undertaking maintenance duties on the boarding kennels, during the current peak season.
Although the Warragul Cup is just around the corner, Ms Ralph is yet to decide whether she will enter her star sprinter.
“She may be too strong for Warragul,” she said. “She’s better over a bigger distance, so we might wait until (a more suitable race in) February or March.”
The next challenge for her will likely be the Australian Cup, held at The Meadows (Broadmeadows) later in the year, which will provide strong competition for the young, up-and-coming champion.
