CAPTION: One of the great Mandurah Cup winners, Sandi’s Me Mum, in full flight in one of her 62 career wins. Trained by the late Gerry O’Keefe, the champion WA chaser won the Mandurah Cup in 1991.

IT might only carry Group 3 status, but the Mandurah Cup (490m) has been won by some super sprinters over the years – non better than the mighty Sandi\’s Me Mum in 1991.

A true superstar and Hall of Famer, Sandi\’s Me Mum won 62 of her 92 starts with 18 minor placings and earnings just under $273,000 – big money in the early 90s.

Bred, reared and trained by the late Gerry O’Keefe, who owned her with his partner Betty Lorrimar, the brindle bitch won the 1989 and \’90  WA Greyhound of the Year titles and in 1990 was voted one of the world\’s eight best greyhounds by the World Greyhound Federation.

Sandi\’s Me Mum came from an amazing  litter that accumulated 196 wins and remarkably during her illustrious career she only ever suffered a shoulder injury.

Better known as \’Cuddles\’, her feature triumphs included the Sandown Laurels, West Australian Winter Cup, National Sprint Championship at Cannington and Cannington Invitation – all in 1989; the Anniversary Cup at Cannington, Adelaide Cup, WA Winter Cup and National Sprint Championship at Sandown in 1990 and the All Star Classic at Cannington, Mandurah Cup and the Ansett Breeders Stake at Cannington in 1991.

Sandi’s Me Mum was crowned Western Australia\’s 1989 GOTY with a unanimous 8-0 vote, she became only the fourth greyhound to secure the prestigious Adelaide Cup-Anniversary Cup double in the same year and went on to become the first greyhound to clinch back-to-back National Sprint titles.

Another outstanding sprinter to claim the Mandurah feature was Reggimite, one of eight Cup winners for the Linda Britton-Chris Halse kennels.

Reggimite (Barney\’s Alarm-Leading Example) broke the Cannington and Mandurah track records several times during his prime in 1998 and \’99 and his feature wins included the Sandown Shootout, the All Stars, Interstate Challenge ( beating Rapid Journey\’s race record), WA Derby, Schweppes Cup, WA Sprint Championship (track record), WA Bred Championship, WA Puppy Championship and the Mandurah Derby.

Another winner Windfire collected a $50,000 bonus for his connections when he won the 1984 Cup, the third leg of a special triple crown.

The Mandurah Cup, first staged in 1979,  was originally run over 530m but was reduced to its current distance of 490m in 2006.

Leading WA kennels are gearing up for next month\’s feature (heats Friday, October 1, and final Friday, October 8) which carries total prizemoney of $37,500 with $25,000 to the winner.

Previous Cup winners:

1979       Hunt’s Reject

1980       Chief Vader

1981       Sam’s Spur

1982       Icy Monaro

1983       Watchem Boy

1984       Windfire

1985       Tidi Level

1986       Paddy Adare

1987       Brendon Glider

1988       Karinya Flash

1989       Dirty Looks

1990       Fitzroy River

1991       Sandi’s Me Mum

1992       Buckaroo Banzai

1993       Sandameri

1994       Mickey Rourke

1995       Boy’s Best

1996       Barelen Saint

1997       Super Saturn

1998       Bev’s Black

1999       Reggemite

2000       Weaving Man

2001       Sirocco Sunset

2002       Ruddikan

2003       Awesome Akta

2004       Rylee’s Reward

2005       Foolish Girl

2006       NOT HELD

2007       Buttsie Bale

2007       Billion Boy

2008       Vulture Street

2009       Alotta Fun

2010       Flying Emu

2011       Living Image

2012       Saving Bundles

2013       Te Amo

2014       Last Day

2015       Crashing Packs

2016       Monaro Monelli

2017       Astrozone

2018       Bundles Galore

2019       Naughty Gunn

2020       More Deductions