Cape Clear breeder-owner-trainer Gary Peach is on a ‘Cannonball Run’!

In an amazing training effort, Peach will rug 'bullet-like' speedsters Silver Brute (Box 1), Mr. Beets(Box 2) and Action Girl (Box 7) in the $15,250 Cannonball Sprint final (400m) – Race 6, 8.42pm – at Geelong on Friday night.

A greyhound ear-brander, Peach has 'stamped' his presence for the $10,000 first prize.

Littermates Silver Brute (50 wins from 78 starts) and Action Girl (44 from 71) are prolific winners, while Mr. Beets (19 from 31) is also building an imposing race CV.

"It's changed the complexion of the race… I would have preferred them (Silver Brute and Mr. Beets) the other way around as Mr. Beets goes hard left!"

And their stats over 400m at Geelong are also impressive – Silver Brute (seven from 12 – 22.15sec PB), Action Girl (seven from 10 – 22.21sec PB) and Mr. Beets (four from seven – 22.19sec PB).

Action Girl ($2.30F) won last year's Cannonball Sprint in inclement conditions, clocking 22.25sec. She was also a 2023 Listed Pink Diamond Champion Short Course finalist (3rd) and 2022 G2 Healesville Cup finalist (4th).

Meanwhile, Silver Brute won the Listed Pink Diamond Short Course, Healesville Derby and Warrnambool Summer Sizzle – all in 2022. And this year, he was a Listed Pink Diamond Champion Short Course finalist (7th).

This year, Mr. Beets has won the Listed Western Districts Derby (Ballarat) and Warrnambool Derby.

Excuse the pun, but the flying trio is taking their trainer on a 'Peach' of a ride!

In last week's Cannonball Run heats, Silver Brute (22.35sec) was the fastest winner from Lektra Heckler (22.44sec), Action Girl (22.51sec) and Mr. Beets (22.53sec).

It was a magical milestone as he brought up a half century of wins!

And when he drew box one in the final – he's seven from 10 exiting the 'red' trap – Peach would normally have been delighted. But Mr. Beets coming up with box two – albeit four from five out of the 'check' alley – was a reality check.

Action Girl drawing box seven also wasn't ideal, according to Peach. However, she has notched eight wins from 13 starts when jumping from the 'black'.

"It's changed the complexion of the race," Peach said. "I would have preferred them (Silver Brute and Mr. Beets) the other way around as Mr. Beets goes hard left!

"And Action Girl would have been better suited closer to the fence. She's won seven from nine out of the 'red' box."

Here's Peach assessment on the winning chances of his 'explosive' threesome:

Silver Brute – "It all evolves around the first 50 metres. If he can clear Mr. Beets, he'll take running down and it wouldn't surprise me one little bit if he won. I slightly favour him as my main chance, but Mr. Beets could cause mayhem."

Mr. Beets – "He just wants to chase. He needs to get balanced though, then he's got enormous acceleration. He's less experienced than my other two, but he's a real up-and-comer. However, he causes his own problems by going immediately 'left' once the lids open."

Action Girl – "She's got the desire; she'd 'run through a brick wall. She's capable of going back-to-back in the Cannonball. And she's 'clean' out of the boxes 95 per cent of the time."

Pawnote: Three heats of the Geelong Derby (460m) – featuring promising sprinters such as Mepunga Smokey (10 from 21), Shima Shadow (14 from 33) and Al's Entity (5 from 18) – along with two heats of the Geelong Oaks (460m) – comprising One More Burn (10 from 18) and Common Step(7 from 13) – will also be conducted on the program.