By Gerard Guthrie
The fastest became the best on Friday night when record-breaking superstar Aston Rupee was anointed Victorian Greyhound of the Year at the 2022 Victorian Greyhound Awards, held at the Plaza Ballroom.
Aston Rupee, trained by Glenn Rounds at Devon Meadows and raced by successful South Australian breeder Ray Borda, was also named Sprinter of the Year.
In winning 14 of his 26 starts during the 2021/22 racing year, Aston Rupee did it all, earning the tag of the world’s fastest greyhound with an array of spectacular performances.
A son of US sire KC And All and Aston Miley, a litter sister to 2017 Melbourne Cup winner Aston Dee Bee and a Melbourne Cup finalist herself, he beat the best of the best at Group 1 level – twice, while perhaps his greatest achievement came when breaking Sandown Park’s revered 515m track record.
Aston Rupee created history by winning both the Topgun and Temlee, becoming the first sprinter to complete The Meadows’ invitational double.
He started favourite in his two other Group 1 appearances, in the Melbourne and Adelaide Cups, finishing fourth on both occasions.
Aston Rupee’s other two feature race victories came in events made to order – the four-sprinter G3 Sandown Shootout (515m) and G3 Speed Star match race series (525m) at The Meadows.
However, it was Aston Rupee’s record-breaking performance at Sandown on September 9 that stands as his legacy, and perhaps will do for many years to come.
Aston Rupee stopped the clock at an almost incomprehensible 28.79sec, smashing the previous 515m benchmark of 28.90sec, established by Hard Style Rico in the 2020 Melbourne Cup final by almost two lengths.
Incredibly, Aston Rupee went on to break the 29-second mark at Sandown in a further three race appearances, running 28.89sec, 28.94sec and 28.95sec.
While he had an obvious affinity with Sandown, Aston Rupee came within .01sec of adding The Meadows 525m record to his resume, when winning the Australian Cup Consolation in 29.38sec, at what would be his second last start before being retired to stud.
The Victorian Sprinter of the Year recognises performances over distances less than 570 metres, with Ferdinand Boy, Koblenz, Lala Kiwi and Wow She’s Fast all acknowledged by the Greyhound of the Year Panel as having exceptional seasons.
Jarick Bale was awarded the Stayer of the Year ahead of (in alphabetical order) Mepunga Ruby and Untapped.
