Sent out as favourite, Amity Bale trailed kennel mate Jarvis Bale and Drill 'Em past the winning post the first time and the order remained unchanged entering the back straight.

Shadow Boxer made a dashing run down the back. Amity Bale went with him and, rounding the home turn, the pair had the leaders in their sights.

Drill 'Em eased off the fence as he turned for home, allowing Amity Bale to surge through the gap on the rails to clinch the $25,000 first prize in 42.24 seconds.

Drill 'Em battled on well to finish 2lengths adrift and National Distance Champion Jarvis Bale was a further 1 lengths away third.

The win was Amity Bell's fifth from seven starts over the Sandown "half mile" and took the 2008 Solo Melbourne Cup finalist's prize money beyond $200,000.

"She's just a great chaser," said trainer Graeme Bate. "When I let her out in the yards at home, she'll run 500m or 600m on her own so she trains herself. She just loves to run."

The news got better for Bate when his exciting youngster Dyna Forte claimed the second feature race of his blossoming career by taking out the Group 3 South Australian Derby while Bate was on the dais at Sandown accepting the Sir John Dillon Memorial trophy.

Six Solo Melbourne Cup Preludes supported the Group 2 feature on an outstanding night of greyhound racing at Sandown Park.