Scoring a good win at Mount Gambier in last Sunday’s main race, the Bernie Burrow at Stud Mixed Stake (512 metres), was Rock It Kathy who is owned by Tracie and Karen Price and trained by the former at Compton.

By Tommy Shelby out of Rock It Barcia, who is clearly Tara Raceway’s leading dam this year with 37 winners, Rock It Kathy settled mid-field while litter sister and kennelmate Compton Ava set the early pace.

But it was Rock It Kathy who finished strongly in the run home when defeating Kerry Hawker’s veteran 102-start chaser Oregon Caldwell by a length with the early leader a further 1¼ lengths back in third spot in a time of 30.04 seconds.

The race also carried a service to the beautifully bred Bernie Burrow, kindly donated to the Mount Gambier Greyhound Racing Club (MGGRC) by Nick Cutri.

By Bernardo out of My Gal Penny, one of the highlights of his 48-start career, which included 21 wins, was success in the 2024 time-honoured Group 1 Hobart Thousand.

And summing up the race pretty well on social media was Victorian owner Debbie Musgrove who attends Tara Raceway from time to time. She posted: “Someone will be very happy to have won the Bernie Burrow race. He has the most beautiful pups.”

Rock It Kathy was the second leg of a double for Price who earlier in the day won with Compton To Avoid, a daughter of Bernardo and Rhonda Lily. She defeated her litter sister and kennelmate Compton Lizzie by 1¼ lengths in 22.99 seconds in the Greyhoundtips.com.au Stake (400 m).

Another local trainer to land a double was German Creek-based Kevin Patzel who landed his first Tara Raceway double since December 2024 when Aston Reims and Wario had been successful.

Last Sunday he won with Slippery Gypsy in the Quickmix Concrete Group Maiden Stake (305 m) and He’s A Tycoon in the Sealeys Springworks Stake (512 m).

Slippery Gypsy, a daughter of Aston Rupee and Lachlan’s Miss – and a winner of four races at Geelong, Warrnambool and Bendigo – was having only her second start after a first-up fourth the previous week.

Jumping from box two, the black and white bitch came out running and was never headed, eventually running out a 3½ length winner over first starter My Man Stan in a tidy time of 17.75 seconds.

And according to Patzel, Slippery Gypsy had been a work in progress since being sent down by NSW breeder Alf Davies.

“Actually, I’d been pre-training her for something like four months and while she’s taken a while I was really pleased with her win today,” he said.

A couple of races later Patzel was back among the winners again with He’s A Tycoon who joined his kennels at the end of last month after having won a maiden at Ballarat in May.

By Hooked On Scotch, the white and black dog is out of Christmas Magic, her name coming about after she was whelped on Christmas Day in 2018. She is a litter sister to Nero Valentino who won the 2023 Mount Gambier Greyhound of the Year award for Kerry Hawker.

Having his first race at the track, He’s A Tycoon settled in second spot down the back behind Compton Baker before finishing the stronger in the run home for a two length win over the early leader in 30.26 seconds.

He was purchased by Patzel , a son of MGGRC life member and 1997 Mount Gambier Cup-winning trainer Ralph Patzel, from Mininera-based Deb Carr after having been advertised at a reasonable price on-line.

“I haven’t had him very long but he did trial well prior to his first race here. However, I believe there’s still plenty of improvement in him,” he said.

And in the Ontrack Insider Stake (305 m), Divine Power strung together his third successive win after settling in second spot behind Noel Perry’s Rough Girl Ruby before finishing strongly for a head win in 17.66 seconds.

The son of Tommy Shelby and Galactic Destiny is trained by Elysia Bartholomew who races Divine Power in partnership with her parents Steve and Lehanne.

“We’re not really sure what we are doing with him yet,” Steve Bartholomew said. “But given that he’s an ideal age for the forthcoming classics hopefully prior to then he’ll be able to show that he’s capable of running over a bit more ground.”

Making amends later in the day for Perry’s earlier narrow defeat was Rough Girl Mel who led all the way in the Pindari Express at Stud Mixed Stake (305 m). She defeated current Mount Gambier Greyhound of the Year leader Gus Limes by 1¼ lengths in 17.69 seconds at odds of 100/1.

Bourne Reagan’s win in the Federal Hotel TG1-4W Stake (305 metres) at Tara Raceway last Thursday for Allendale East owner-trainer David Peckham continued the good start for top producer Sweet On Me’s latest litter – by McInerney.

Settling in second spot from box seven, the blue bitch took the lead from Puddin’ Cake turning for home and then held off a fast finishing Cadillac Express – a son of Pindari Express – to win by 1½ lengths in 17.94 seconds.

McInerney, a son of Fernando Bale and Born Ali, won 23 races, including a Million Dollar Chase, for prize money of more than $1.27 million prior to being mated with three bitches in Australia. He was then sold in late 2023 to Ireland where he now stands at FKK Sires.

All told, Bourne Reagan has now won two races and run four placings from nine starts at Tara Raceway. Meanwhile, three littermates in Victoria – Petali, Rich Gairn and Sweet As Kelly – have all opened their winning accounts at The Meadows and Geelong.

And speaking at Tara Raceway last week, Peckham said Bourne Reagan’s Group 1 winning half-sister Bourne Model (by Feral Franky) was soon to be mated with Bernardo, a son of US sire KC And All and Surfonic.

Meanwhile, Meningie Thursday regulars at Tara Raceway in Tanya Bialek and Tim Richards enjoyed another good day at the track after collectively landing a treble with Ritza Wotton, Cantara Pearl and Bulsara.

The Richards trained Ritza Wotton, owned by Bialek and Mark Dwyer, had strung together three consecutive 512 metre wins at the local track prior to dead-heating for second at the previous meeting behind Fantastic Ada.

But the son of Fernando Bale and Ritza Gloria found winning form again – albeit by a half head – when leading all the way from box one and defeating a fast finishing Just Johnnie in 30.10 seconds in the Commercial Hotel TG5+W Stake.

Cantara Pearl, a daughter of Feral Franky and Perseverance, finally broke through for her ninth win from 96 starts for Bialek on the back of five consecutive second placings at Tara Raceway.

Jumping from box eight in the Ontrack Insider TG5+W Stake (305 m), Cantara Pearl chased Cadillac Girl into the home straight before holding out Rocket Susie for a length win in 18.08 seconds.

In the following race, the Produce Store TG5+W Stake (305 m), for the second consecutive week it was Bialek’s Bulsara who finished strongly in the run home when defeating the Richards trained Jazzy Boo.

The Greyhoundtips.com.au TG1-4W Stake Fast Forward final carried a handy $1065 to the winner. And it was leading trainer Tracie Price who brought up a treble on the day after Compton Zirconia defeated Appellant and Linda Lou in the final.

Always on the pace, the son of Smart Knocka and 2021 Mount Gambier Anniversary Cup winner Tandiki finished over the top of Appellant in the run home to win by three-quarters of a length in 23.38 seconds.

Earlier in the day Price had been successful with Cinta’s Gold in the Cadillac Racing Maiden Stake (305 m) in 17.75 seconds and Compton Stella in the Trackside Pet Meats TG5+W Stake (400 m) in a time of 23.14 seconds.

Another Thursday regular – Berringa-based Michael Niele – once again was successful with one of the Feral Franky x Darryl’s Dream litter. This time it was with Speechless in the Icon Signs TG1-4W Stake (305 m).

Well back early from box one, the brindle bitch finished strongly in the run home for a head win over Scott Blacksell’s Mocambora Jack in 17.98 seconds.

Interestingly, at the previous week’s time-graded meeting, Slovakia, a litter sister to Speechless and also trained by Niele, had defeated Blacksell’s Mocambora Mitch – a litter brother to Mocambora Jack – also by a head.

And Victoria has announced a Mount Gambier time standard which will apply to Tier 3 meetings run at specific tracks such as Ballarat, Bendigo, Healesville, Sale, Shepparton, Traralgon and Warragul. The times are 305 m 17.99, 400 m 23.63, 512 m 30.35, 600 m 35.87 and 732 m 44.80.

Also, the Mount Gambier Greyhound Racing Club’s first Preferential Box Draw (PBD) meeting will be conducted at Tara Raceway on Thursday, August 13.

All greyhounds nominated (including maidens) will be placed in a PBD event. There will be no reserves. The second PBD meeting for the month will be run on Thursday, August 27.