The Mount Gambier Greyhound Racing Club’s Tara Tipsters completed another two-month charity-based series at last Sunday’s race meeting at Tara Raceway.
By and large, the Tara Tipsters series are made up of a group of regular racegoers who donate to the charity jar at Thursday and Sunday meetings and then endeavour to be in front by the end of the tipping competition.
The real winner, though, is always a Mount Gambier-based charity while the competition winner settles for bragging rights.
At the Lake Terrace East track last Sunday were representatives from the Limestone Coast Prostate Cancer Support Group – led by their Chair, Tony Duddy. And they were most appreciative of the Tara Tipsters’ support.
The group also went out of its way to promote their charity at the greyhound meeting with banners, leaflets and outdoor advertising.
Meanwhile, Shima Moon, whose first race start was back on December 4, 2024, finally broke through for his first win some 15 months later at start number five when successful in last Sunday’s opening race of the day.
Lining up from box two in the Greg Martlew Autos Maiden Stake (305 metres), Shima Moon, owned and trained at Portland by Nifty Lenehan, was slowly away but finished strongly for a three-quarter length win over Around Outside in 17.89 seconds.
By Fernando Bale out of Shima Glow, a winner of 10 races and $71,000 in prize money, the rising three-year-old red fawn dog is a litter brother to Shima Blush, a winner of nine races and $67,000.
Another 305 metre maiden followed – the Cadillac Racing Maiden Stake. And 2½-year-old first starter Poke Salad Annie led all the way from box eight for a two length win over High Cobber in 17.71 seconds.
Bred at Horsham by her owner Peter Carter, the daughter of Bernardo and Reinforcements found her way over to Stuart Sharam’s Penola kennels at the end of January.
“Peter had rung me to see if I would be interested in having a go with her behind the finish-on-lure at Tara Raceway given that she refused to run into the catching pen at the Horsham track,” Sharam said.
“I trialled her a couple of times at Tara Raceway where she didn’t do a thing wrong. And she certainly didn’t do too much wrong either when winning first up last Sunday.”
Poke Salad Annie is a litter sister to Lightning Quick, a winner of six races, all at The Meadows, and more than $33,000 in prize money.
As far as 512 metre races were concerned last Sunday, it was Kia Keeping who took the time honours with a 4¾ length all the way win over Rock It Kathy in the Icon Signs Mixed Stake in 29.98 seconds.
The March 2023 daughter of Fernando Bale and Ruby Keeping now has Hamilton-based Kyle Goodwin, who trains the black bitch for his mother Lorraine, taking a long, hard look at the forthcoming Group 3 Trackside Pet Meats Mount Gambier Cup (512 m).
“She’s now had 16 runs here for us since arriving from WA last October,” Goodwin said. “And she obviously handles the track pretty well given that she’s won eight races at Tara Raceway.
“With the $50,000 race paying $34,000 to the winner, it’s certainly not going to be an easy ask. But she handles the local track pretty well and we believe that she’s probably done enough to have a crack at Mount Gambier’s biggest race of the year.”
New sponsors, Tracie and Karen Price of Trackside Pet Meats, are on board for Mount Gambier’s richest ever race, which will kick off on Sunday, March 29 with a maximum of eight heats. Also on that day will be heats of the Ontrack Insider Maiden (305 m).
The first Mount Gambier Cup was run at Glenburnie in 1981 when won by Joan Cruise and Newman McDonnell’s Tara Topar.
And as was the case back then, leading into this year’s cup will be the Calcutta, conducted at Tara Raceway on Saturday, March 28. Compering the night will be Graham Gill while Chris Manser once again will auction the cup greyhounds.
Calcutta auction tickets will be available on race days from this Sunday at Tara Raceway for $1 each or at the special race day price of 100 tickets for $80 or 50 tickets for $40. On Calcutta night, all tickets will be $1 each.
At last year’s Calcutta it was the eventual Mount Gambier Cup winner Aston Gozo who attracted the highest bid of $1560.