She Can Sew proved her standing as $2.50 favourite in the 310m Climate Doctor Cannonball Final, winning the Canberra Greyhound Racing Club's feature short course event by a neck on Sunday night.
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Having drawn box one, Bobby Bennett's prized bitch got the start the Queanbeyan trainer was hoping for, accelerating along the rails to lead at the first turn, and maintaining that lead to hold off a strong finish from Harcool Lad.
Harcool Lad ($11.40), which started from box seven, made up some ground in the home straight, but Bennett was confident his girl had it won.
''I knew she was very strong at the finish and if she got out all right and pushed up, I knew she'd be hard to beat when she was coming around the home turn, because she's strong, a very, very strong bitch.''
Harcool Lad's Nowra-based trainer Ron Fisher was proud of his sprinter's second place.
''He can only really run 400 [metres] at the best and she can get a 500 … when he took ground off her I thought it was pretty good,'' Fisher said. ''It wasn't far - a neck, reverse the boxes and he may have won, but that's not the way it is.'' The pair finished 5¼ lengths ahead of third placegetter Wild Punting.
She Can Sew claimed the $3000 prize, adding to the nearly $19,000 she had racked up from her 20 wins and 27 places.
''That is the biggest race [she's won],'' Bennett said ''The prizemoney is really good, but you've got a few expenses to come out of that, different things go wrong and you take 'em to the vet and that sort of thing, but while you're winning you're covering all those things.''
Bennett's son-in-law Tony Maxwell has taken the reins of She Can Sew from the octogenarian, as Bennett looks after and educates her 10-month-old half-sisters from Happy Baby's litter of six.
''I've got two bitches and Tony's got the other four … I like the girls - always did,'' he said.