Local greyhound racing steward Lindy Thomson was caught unawares at Tara Raceway’s meeting last Sunday when Mount Gambier Greyhound Racing Club (MGGRC) president Noel Perry presented her with a Greyhound Racing SA Service Award certificate.

The certificate was in recognition of 10 years dedicated service to Greyhound Racing SA and was signed by GRSA Chief Executive Officer Brenton Scott.

“It seems a lifetime ago that I first became involved with the club. Prior to taking on a stewarding role I must have done almost every job there was around the place with the exception of working in the bar,” said Thomson, daughter of MGGRC life member Ralph Patzel.

Thomson also extended her special thanks to her race day co-workers Barry Shepheard, Stan Bright, Connor Bartlett and Craig Childs.

Congratulations Lindy on an award well deserved.

With four pups from the December 2021 Orson Allen x Destini Surfer litter, it’s fair to say Langhorne Creek owner-trainer Tony Hinrichsen had been more than hopeful of coming up with a winner or two.

And according to Hinrichsen, who boasts a long involvement in the sport, none of the four had initially even warranted a name.

“Actually, the four had found themselves on the GAP (Greyhounds As Pets) waiting list without even being named to race,” said Hinrichsen.

Or so he thought.

“In due course three of the four were adopted out and with only one left – a fawn bitch – I was pretty happy with the way things had been progressing. Mind you, when she was still at Langhorne Creek some nine months later I started to wonder what was going on.

“So I rang GAP to enquire as to when they would be taking the fawn bitch in order that she could be adopted out.

“It was then that I was politely informed that I had placed only three of the litter into GAP and that the one I was now enquiring about hadn’t even been desexed, let alone placed on the waiting list.

“Somehow I had forgotten to go through the relevant procedures with her when it came to placing her in GAP. So I decided after having waited all this time I may as well give her a try on the track before going down the GAP path which I figured wouldn’t be long, anyway,” Hinrichsen said.

As it turned out, it took the well-named Forgotten Fury only three starts to open her winning account when successful over 395 metres at Murray Bridge back in June. Since then she had won a further four races at Murray Bridge and Gawler prior to last Sunday’s Mount Gambier win.

Lining up from box one in the second-last race, the Cadillac Racing Stake (400 m), and having her first start at the track, Forgotten Fury led all the way for a 2¾ length win over a couple of handy performers in Aston Blend and Mango Cans in 23.33 seconds.

Hinrichsen’s last winner at Tara Raceway had been in June with Bagged Fury. But his involvement with the local track goes back to 2011 when Fighting Fury reached the Mount Gambier Cup final won by Banger Harvey.

And come the last race, Ringer’s Girl finally lived up to Mortlake trainer Peter Franklin’s expectations with a pretty impressive performance in the Greg Martlew Autos Stake (512 m).
Leading all the way from box one, the brindle daughter of Aston Rupee and Two Phones ended up defeating Allinga Amy by 11 lengths in a tidy 30.11 seconds for owners Steve and Vanessa Lenehan of Laharum.

Ringer’s Girl went into the race having won only one race from 16 starts. But Franklin, a multiple track record trainer at Tara Raceway, said he had expected the October 2022 bitch to run well.

“She certainly goes better when drawn close to the rails,” he said. “And with her continuing to improve a little at a time I thought it wouldn’t be long before she showed what she was really capable of.”

And Compton owner-trainer Robert Chuck – minus his “Father Christmas” beard and looking almost unrecognisable – scored a good win with Galactic Nemesis in the Gordon Refrigeration Maiden Stake over 305 metres.

Having only her second start on the back of a first-up second to Indie Or Jill, Galactic Nemesis led all the way from box eight when defeating litter sister Hey You Guys by 4¼ lengths in 17.70 seconds.

By Blue Moon Rising, the pair is out Galactic Athena, winner of the 2019 Mount Gambier Cup when owned by Chuck and trained by Steve Bartholomew who is now training Hey You Guys for his daughter Deb Hicks and her husband Craig.