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Family Ties in the Bidgee Cup
Jeff Collerson • August 29th, 2025 9:30 pm
Graham "Poss" Sheather won the 2018 Wagga Gold Cup with Gunshot Ridge and on Friday has Ozzie Nick (pictured) and Balmoral Queen, close relations of that dog, in the corresponding event, the $25,000 to the winner Ladbrokes Bidgee Cup final at the Riverina track.
Ozzie Nick and Balmoral Queen, owned and trained by Sheather's partner Angela Della Bosca, are grandson and grand-daughter respectively of Pearl Irene, the dam of his 2018 Cup winner.
"Jack Roy of Cootamundra trained Gunshot Ridge, a son of Pearl Irene, who is the grandmother of the two greyhounds Angela and I have in Friday's final," Sheather said.
"Fastest heat winner Champlain, trained by David Jones, will be hard to beat from her good box two draw, but I think Balmoral Queen could 'make' the race for her kennelmate, Ozzie Nick.
"Balmoral Queen is a good beginner with early speed but she runs in the middle of the track, so from box four she should give Ozzie Nick plenty of room to move out of box three.
"Ozzie Nick gets back in the field but is very strong but if he can get around Champlain at any stage he will go close to winning.
"Unleash In Miami, who has box one, had a huge early lead before finishing third to Champlain and LEONI BALE in his heat, so he will probably set the pace again.
"But the 525m at Wagga is a tough run and Unleash In Miami struggles to see it out strongly.
"Before the heats Champlain trialled a flying 29.77 at Wagga and her heat time pf 30.03 was the quickest."
David Jones, local trainer of Champlain, is chasing his first winner of Wagga's feature race.
"I've been in a couple of finals but haven't won one," Jones said.
"Champlain is my best chance and although she came from well back at the first turn to win her heat, she is capable of showing early dash.
"When I have raced her at Melbourne's Sandown she has clocked first splits of 5.10 and 5.11, but she doesn't come out anywhere near as well at Wagga.
"I believe the different lure and box mechanisms at Sandown favour Champlain, but she is extremely strong at the end of 525m."
If second fastest heat winner Skedaddle Arlo, who clocked 30.15 winning from box seven, is successful he will give hobby trainer Mark Suttle his biggest triumph in over 30 years in the sport.
"Skedaddle Arlo has box eight and while I would have preferred one or two, boxes eight and seven are next best for him," Suttle said.
"I trialled him at Wagga before the Cup heats and Skedaddle Arlo recorded around the same time as he ran last week.
"But in his heat he would have gone slightly quicker if he had not been trapped wide for much of the race so he is in the final with a good chance."
