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Local trainers chasing second memorial wins
Following the running of two heats of the Newman McDonnell Memorial (512 metres) at Tara Raceway last Sunday, local trainers Tracie Price and Richard Clayfield will be chasing their second wins in the time-honoured event on Sunday afternoon at Tara Raceway.
Clayfield won the 2016 memorial with Glenville Jester who narrowly defeated kennelmate Slipper’s Shadow while two years later the Price-trained Banjo Lass, a $13 chance, was successful over Shae’s Magic.
The enigmatic Glenville Jester, at the conclusion of his racing days, found his way into one of the prisons as a Greyhounds As Pets (GAP) retiree. Clayfield always maintained GAP couldn’t have found a better home for him!
Price looked well served in the first heat of the memorial – for grade five greyhounds – with Croatian Comet an odds-on favourite and Wild Milly a winner of seven races.
And Clayfield’s Shore’s Pick was the interesting runner in the heat given that the daughter of Bernardo and Shore’s Girl had never raced over any distance beyond 410 metres.
In fact, after relocating to Glenroy in early July, all of Shore’s Pick’s runs had been at Tara Raceway over 400 metres. However, it had always been Clayfield’s intention to try her over 512 metres in the memorial.
Raced by Tanner Ahl, Croatian Comet, a white and black son of Fernando Bale and Tangelo Fire, led all the way from box seven, eventually winning three-quarters of a length over Wild Milly with a further length back to Shore’s Pick.
Wild Milly was a fair way off the pace down the back straight but ran home well while Shore’s Pick was always on the pace and should be further improved by the run. Also through to the final for Millicent trainer Dave Green is Sher Zany, beaten 2½ lengths and better known as a stayer.
Heat two of the Newman McDonnell Memorial was a keenly-contested affair with Two Fifty Three, Lektra Lyanna and Lakeview Heather taking up the early running.
But the run of the race was turned in by Windsor Girl who made a complete mess of the start from box four, was all but tailed off mid-race and then stormed home for a length win over Lektra Lyanna in 30.37 seconds.
Trained at Dennington by Dustin Drew for close friend Mark Evans, Windsor Girl has now won eight races and close to $46,000 in prize money. And standing in for Drew last Sunday was his sister Aimee.
“I just couldn’t believe the run,” she said. “I don’t know what happened in the boxes but she certainly made a mess of the start. Anyway, she’s made the final and I’m of the opinion that perhaps she would be better suited out wide.”
Lektra Lyanna is owned at Toolong by Phil Lenehan – who won the 2017 Newman McDonnell Memorial with Lektra Stomp, a son of Walk Hard and Lektra Angie – and trained by his partner Sharon Bradley.
Interestingly, Lektra Lyanna is by Fernando Bale out of Lektra Perry who is also a daughter of Lektra Angie.
Also through to the final from the second heat is rising four-year-old Two Fifty Three, owned and trained locally by Adam Mackereth who always attracts a family gathering to watch his greyhounds race.
Making up the final eight is Lakeview Heather, a luckless fourth for Price and his daughter Sarah.
Masters events – 305 metre races for greyhounds 3¾ years and older – continue to be run on a regular basis at Tara Raceway’s Sunday meetings.
And the older dogs are running out some pretty handy times with the Bartholomew family’s Unique Pearl carving out a smart 17.60 seconds when winning by 2½ lengths in last week’s Winning Post Supplies Stake.
Age-wise, it was an interesting race. The winner, a son of Elite State and Dusty Pearl, was whelped on December 18, 2020. Placegetters Bourne Nicko, Paw Some Storm and fourth placed Mr. Anderson are members of the Bernardo x Dusseldorp litter – also whelped on December 18, 2020.
Meanwhile, the last two Sunday meetings for November will feature the heats and final of the Tara Tipsters Trainers Challenge, a 1-4 wins non penalty series to be run over 400 metres.
The Trainers Challenge is open to all trainers who have contested at least one series from the outset of the Tara Tipsters competition . The series carries a first prize of $2500.
Youngsters impress on debut
April 2023 and March 2023 youngsters Magic Mack and Moonlight Oscar both looked pretty good on debut when they fought out the Cadillac Racing Maiden Stake (305 metres) at Tara Raceway’s time-graded meeting last Thursday.
A $1.35 chance, the “dogs were barking” Magic Mack’s chances from box one and he duly led all the way for a 1½ length win over Moonlight Oscar in 17.94 seconds.
Trained at Glencoe by Edna Fennell, the black dog is by Feral Franky out of Perseverance, a winner of 16 races and the 2020 Mount Gambier Greyhound of the Year when trained by Fennell’s husband Dean.
Fennell also acquired Magic Mack’s litter sister Magic Poppy at the pup stage and she won on debut over 305 metres in 18.04 seconds at the beginning of October.
Moonlight Oscar, a son of Koblenz and Swift Brittany, is owned and trained at Warrnambool by Linda Gore, wife of the Warrnambool Greyhound Racing Club president Rob, and grandmother of young Ollie who ensured she had her hands full for most of the day.
But her 30 kilogram fawn dog looks as though it won’t be too long before he breaks his maiden status given the manner in which he handled himself from box four at last week’s meeting.
Also over from Warrnambool were Kevin Finn and his daughter Marita Byron, chasing their first win with Anna Rhode, a daughter of Fernando Bale and Delta Rhode who had previously won six races.
Finn is the two-kennel trainer who keeps a greyhound in one and his lawnmower in the other. And after his last greyhound, Tamborine Girl, was retired he had been on the lookout for a replacement – for another greyhound, not a lawnmower.
“Then, from out of the blue I received a call from the local legend Norm McCullagh who had heard I was looking for another dog. He suggested I bring Marita around and check out a greyhound that he would like her to take,” Finn said.
“So around we went to check out this white and fawn bitch who had won a few races. Seemed like a good offer to us, especially after he told us the two dog pups she had whelped several months earlier didn’t come with the deal!”
Anna Rhode went into last week’s race on the back of five starts at Tara Raceway – the last run a second placing behind Artificial Blue and suggesting that her first win in more than 12 months maybe wasn’t all that far away.
And that’s how it turned out. She was always on the pace from box five and in the run home found the line to win by neck from Cadillac Patch in 30.37 seconds in the Da’Leni Meats TG5+W Stake (512 m).
Another greyhound out of the winner’s circle for quite a while had been Compton Kelly. She’s trained locally by Tracie Price and also owned locally by Michael Robinson and Willie Vossen, although the latter is currently touring WA but keeping an eye on Tara Raceway.
Lining up from box one in the last race – the Todd’s Photographics TG1-4W Stake (400 m) – Compton Kelly was chasing her first win since March this year. Sesamoid problems since had restricted her racing activity to only a handful of starts.
But as far as Robinson was concerned, the wait until race 12 had been worthwhile after the black bitch led all the way and defeated her kennelmate Barra Banjo by three lengths in a time of 23.27 seconds.
By Aussie Infrared, Compton Kelly is out of Tandiki, a daughter of Peter Rocket and Headline, and a winner of 18 races. Tandiki whelped a second litter of two dogs by Smart Knocka in March this year.
And Bungaloo Bruiser obviously benefited from a short break from the track when returning to winning form for Kongorong owner-trainer John Little in the Trackside Pet Meats Pick 6 TG1-4W Stake (305 m).
Virtually leading all the way from box eight, the blue son of On Fire and Springvale Alysa brought up his third win from 43 starts with a length win over Bluer Than Blue in 18.03 seconds.
Now, it has to be said, Little doesn’t mind having an occasional small wager on his greyhounds but even he was probably caught unawares when Bungaloo Bruiser scored at the massive odds of $71. Certainly nice work if you can get it.
Local greyhound racing set to receive further boost
The Mount Gambier Greyhound Racing Club (MGGRC), which currently conducts race meetings twice-weekly on Thursday and Sunday afternoons at Tara Raceway, could soon be running extra meetings at its Lake Terrace East venue.
This was announced at last week’s Industry Engagement Forum (IEF) by Greyhound Racing South Australia (GRSA) Chief Executive Officer Brenton Scott who said greyhound racing’s controlling body was keen to reward SA areas that were doing well.
“With the MGGRC averaging 11.5 races a meeting and nominations averaging approximately 6.5 dogs a race, we believe the club is well placed to run additional meetings at Tara Raceway,” he said.
“Really, it’s a case of coming up with the right racing scheduling whereby all greyhounds, despite their ability, can be given an equal opportunity to continue racing.
“I believe we need to run more SA-bred feature events. And this would also include the south-east which I know has been running age-restricted classics at Tara Raceway for a number of years.”
Mr Scott also said the future of SA greyhound racing looked to be in six-dog racing given the downturn in breeding Australia-wide.
Not surprisingly, the main topic of the night was the re-homing of greyhounds.
“For sure, we need a bigger re-homing footprint in the south-east,” Mr Scott said. “Clearly we’re not doing enough down here with our Greyhounds As Pets (GAP) program and that needs to be turned around.”
Also representing GRSA at Mount Gambier’s IEF were Grantley Stevens (Chair), Ben Kavanagh (Chief Operating Officer), Heath Pocock (Chief Financial Officer) and Derek Kordick (Risk and Compliance).
And they were also able to check out first-hand the major clubroom renovations currently being undertaken at Tara Raceway.
Mount Gambier was the first of the IEF road shows, followed by Gawler on Friday, November 1; Murray Bridge, Wednesday, November 13 and Angle Park, Wednesday, November 20.
All registered participants – trainers, owners and breeders – had been invited to attend the one of the forums as GRSA looks at the current challenges and plans ahead for the future.
South Australia’s first on-site Greyhound Education Circuit (GEC) has now opened at the Murray Bridge track. The GEC is expected to serve as a valuable resource in the training process for industry participants.
Work on a second GEC will commence at the Mount Gambier complex in early 2025. It will complement the slipping track area and give trainers access to galloping and education facilities.
Meanwhile, locally owned and trained Bourne Model gave plenty of cheek in last week’s $14,275 Leigh Rogers Memorial final (530 metres) at Angle Park when finishing a 1¾ length third behind He’s Magic and Scary Eyes in 30.69 seconds.
Bourne Model is trained by David Peckham who races the daughter of Feral Franky and Sweet On Me in partnership with Christine Yourgules, Kevin Patzel and Kevin Douglas. Peckham included the trio in the ownership in appreciation of their support at his Allendale East-based Bourne Kennels.
A winner of 21 races, Sweet On Me is a daughter of Barcia Bale and Call Me Gee. In August she whelped her third litter – three dogs and four bitches to McInerney.
Cadillac pair set to fight out Greyhound of the Year
As far as the 2024 Category 2 Mount Gambier Greyhound of the Year (GOTY) is concerned, Cadillac Racing’s Mister Cadillac and Top Cadillac – both trained by Captain Abbott – now look to be sitting in pole position.
The white and brindle Mister Cadillac upset Paw Some Storm’s three-race winning streak when finishing strongly for a half-head win in the Greg Martlew Autos Mixed Stake (400 metres) in 23.08 seconds.
The son of Magical Bale and Koa Lass is predominantly a short-course greyhound who races mainly over 400 metres. This distance carries one less point (3) for a win than distances over more ground – 512, 600 and 732 metres.
Following last Sunday’s Tara Raceway meeting, Mister Cadillac has now won five races (15 Points) and run 15 seconds and four thirds – two points for second and one for third, irrespective of the distance. Currently he leads the GOTY with 49 points.
Kennelmate Top Cadillac, a son of Feral Franky and Establish, excels over more ground and picked up two points last Sunday when dead-heating for second behind Lektra Remi in the Cadillac Racing Mixed Stake (512 m).
In a keenly-contested race, Top Cadillac settled mid-field behind the leader Lektra Remi before finishing strongly along the rails to grab equal second spot in 29.98 seconds.
With nine wins, three seconds and three third placings Top Cadillac now sits in second spot on 45 points. He is one point clear of third placed Purified who is currently off the scene.
As far as the Mount Gambier GOTY is concerned, Abbott boasts a pretty good record. In 2019 Black Spring was successful and in 2021 the Edenhope-based trainer won the award with Another Pick.
And last year it was Cadillac Racing training partner Kerry Hawker who was successful with Nero Valentino.