Kiwi import Postman Pat has stretched his Australian winning run to an undefeated four in a row, after smashing a Bendigo 425m 5th grade race on Friday night by almost nine lengths in a near record 23.44.
The Jason Thompson-trained greyhound went within 2.5 lengths of Typhoon Sammy’s Bendigo track record of 23.28 set in 2021.
Typhoon Sammy coincidentally was also by trained Jason Thompson.
The former New Zealand (NZ) greyhound has had a real boom on him after near track record runs at Shepparton and Geelong.
Postman Pat arrived on Australian shores and quickly set to work posting a swift 25.35-second win during his inaugural Australian race at Geelong over 460m.
The son of son of Hooked On Scotch and Birdie Tee was then sent to Shepparton clocking a time of 24.66 seconds, just shy of Rejuvenate’s 450m record of 24.59 seconds.
Postman Pat then returned to Geelong winning in 25.28 just outside Black Magic Opal’s longstanding 25.10 track record.
After drawing box one for Friday’s race at Bendigo, greyhound bookmakers had the Jose and Donald Arthur owned greyhound a prohibitive -1250 in greyhound betting.
Favourite backers would have had a little cause for concern early when it took Postman Pat about 100m to use the rails advantage to drive up and hit the lead after beginning only fairly.
But having hit the front, the gap to the field only ever got wider, hitting the line 8.25 lengths ahead of the next best dog.
Bendigo 5th Grade 425m June 2 2023 – Postman Pat (23.44) T:Jason Thompson
Postman Pat will now head to Sandown for a 515m 5th grade race on June 8 when the dog’s former NZ trainer, Tony Hart, will cross the Tasman Sea to be trackside to watch his former charge, alongside fellow Dunsandel kennel colleagues Dylan Voyce and Cameron Thomassen.
It was the greyhound’s solid performances in New Zealand, which included a record-breaking run at Ascot Park (457m), that sparked the owners’ decision to see how he would fare on Australian tracks.
Dunsandel kennel manager Dylan Voyce has said that “Postman Pat is the fastest greyhound I’ve seen”.
Hart has confirmed that Jason Thompson’s plans are to enter Postman Pat into the 2023 Group 1 Brisbane Cup heats set to take place on June 29.
Postman Pat has now had 18 starts for 14 wins and three seconds.
The 31kg black dog has now won $48,925 in career earnings, which is set to rapidly increase once Thompson takes the brakes off and races Postman Pat above 5th grade competition.
More greyhound racing news