Saturday, July 14, 2018

Paul Teuma, based over Warrnambool way at Winslow, has been making the trip to Mount Gambier for Tara Raceway’s time-graded meetings for a while now, although still chasing his first win at the track when Clyde’s Girl lined up from box eight in Friday’s Metal Worx Maiden Stake (400 metres).

But this was going to be the 71-year-old trainer’s day, Clyde’s Girl, the $21 rank outsider quickly working into second spot behind Don’s Noisey and then finishing too well in the home straight for a length win over first starter Azumi Twister who worked home well.

After the race, the affable Teuma told fellow trainers, probably marvelling at his resilience, that this had been his first winner in 10 years.

However, by the time he had returned with Clyde’s Girl for a presentation photograph, that winning time-frame had stretched to 15 years and even 20 years, depending on who you were speaking with.

Anyway, whatever the length of time between winners, it’s fair to say that the duration had been long, Teuma believing his last success would have been at Barmera’s now-defunct track where he enjoyed his fair share of success while based at Red Cliffs.

Involved in the sport “off and on” since he was 18, he picked up the nicely-bred 30 kilogram Clyde’s Girl as a giveaway after her first two race starts had resulted in unplaced runs at Young and Temora.

“I have six dogs in work at the moment and they’re all giveaways,” Teuma said. “I took over Clyde’s Girl last October and while she is 3½ years old she’s still had only 10 starts due to seasonal issues.”

By Barcia Bale, Clyde’s Girl is out of Fantastic Rose who raced on only five occasions for a win at Goulburn but is well bred, being by Spiral Nikita x Light Fantastic – Fantastic Rose’s litter brother the city-winning Fantastic Sid who won $82,000 in stakemoney.

Fifteen minutes after Teuma’s first win at the track, he lined up with Fort Santiago who was having her first start at Tara Raceway in the Trackside Meats Stake (400 m) on the back of well-beaten runs at Gosford, Nowra and Potts Park.

And for much of the race it appeared as though Teuma’s drought had well and truly broken as the SA-bred Fort Santiago (Barcia Bale x Bally Swift) bowled along in front before being beaten into second spot by Miss Premier.

All the same, though, Paul Teuma would have headed back to Winslow well-satisfied with his day and probably wondering why, only a couple of months ago, he had tried unsuccessfully to offload all his greyhounds.

---

Thursday, July 12, 2018

Allendale East greyhound trainer Connie Miller will be on the cups trail again when Chilly Kiss and Kolora Posie line up in heats of the time-honoured Anniversary Cup at Tara Raceway on Sunday afternoon.

Miller won the 1986 Anniversary Cup with Kenzel Lad who had been successful in the inaugural cup the previous year when being trained by the Lane family. It would be another 30 years before a greyhound won successive cups – this time Peter Franklin’s Mojito Mayhem, the first in 2015.

And then in 1987 the Miller-trained Durafi won the Anniversary Cup, after having won the Mount Gambier Cup earlier in the year – that feat also achieved by Mojito Mayhem in 2016.

Chilly Kiss was a well-beaten second behind Bomber Creek in last Sunday’s Rock’s Retreat Open Stake (512 metres) at Tara Raceway but so consistent has her form been this year that she now leads in the Greyhound of the Year award with 38 points (5 wins, 7 seconds, 4 thirds), one clear of Oh No Beta.

Also chasing his third cup is Glenroy trainer Richard Clayfield whose Solitary Lad looks well placed in box one in Sunday’s first heat – the son of Lonesome Cry x Up And Away successful at last year’s corresponding meeting in the John Reid Memorial Maiden.

Clayfield has won Anniversary Cups at both local tracks, Seldom Sure successful in 1994 and Glenville Maggie at the Lake Terrace East venue in 2011.

Apsley trainer Tom Cryer has Cryer’s Plugger and Cryer’s Bob engaged and looking for another success after Cryer’s Tiger’s win in 2010 while Nicole Stanley of Portland, following her win last year with Fiorelli Rose, will be hoping for a forward showing from Ben Nevis, a 30.01 seconds winner last week, and Bereluke who returns from a Produce Stake campaign at Gawler.

Likely to stake a strong claim in this year’s event is Bomber Creek, who braved the elements at last Sunday’s meeting to score a dominant win in a rough-house five-dog affair which saw Solitary Lad come off second-best.

Recently purchased by the Kings Choice Syndicate and trained at Mortlake by Peter Crawley, Bomber Creek’s re-match with Solitary Lad on Sunday should be one of the highlights of the day.

This year will mark the 34th running of the Anniversary Cup after the opening meeting had been conducted at Glenburnie on Saturday, July 21, 1979 by the South Eastern Greyhound Racing Club which had been formed some seven years earlier at a public meeting in the Mount Gambier City Hall on September 14, 1972.

The first Anniversary Cup run at Lake Terrace East was in 1997 when the Col Sims trained Becker McLaren won in 30.28 seconds, a race record that stood until 2011 when Glenville Maggie clocked 30.18 seconds.

Complementing the Anniversary Cup is the John Reid Memorial Maiden (512 m), first run in 2005 when won by the Robert Halliday trained Itza Bee who still holds the race record at 30.22 seconds.

Two five-dog heats will kick off Sunday’s meeting with unraced litter sisters Azumi Spirit and Dusty Pearl perhaps holding the key to the series.

By Dyna Tron out of Azumi Touch, who has produced 10 winners at Tara Raceway this year, the sisters are trained at the Worrolong kennels of Steve and Lee Bartholomew.

---

Thursday, July 12, 2018

Keith and Lisa Hellmuth have once again got behind Mount Gambier’s classic races this year with the donation of another service to their stud dog Peter Rocket for the Winter Classic.

To be known as the Peter Rocket Winter Classic, the non-penalty event over 512 metres is for all dogs and bitches whelped on or after July 1, 2016, heats to be run on Sunday, August 19 and the $3000 final a week later.

The Winter Classic was first run in 2014 when won by Stylish Moment, trained by Tracie Price, who followed up again the following year with Cee Me Burst.

Phil Lenehan provided the 2016 winner with Lektra Munster while last year Richard Clayfield was successful with Solitary Lad.

Earlier this year the Hellmuths donated a Peter Rocket service for the Summer Classic, the winner being the Steve Bartholomew trained Galactic Panther.

Peter Rocket, a son of Where’s Pedro x Belron Blue, raced on 67 occasions for 22 wins and raced in 15 Group finals, winning the Group 1 Dapto Megastar and the Group 2 Horsham Cup.

Among his winning progeny are Peter Galo, Nike Viper and, of course, Rockoon, who recently ran a 512 metre track record of 29.28 seconds at Tara Raceway.

---

Wednesday, July 11, 2018

The Mount Gambier Greyhound Racing Club’s current alternate Friday afternoon meetings will be replaced with alternate Wednesday fixtures once greyhound racing commences at the new track in Murray Bridge.

MGGRC club manager, Barry Shepheard, made the announcement this week following a meeting with Greyhound Racing SA last week in Adelaide where the SA racing schedule was finalised in readiness for when the Murray Bridge track is operational – expected to be late this year.

“I believe mid-week racing at Tara Raceway on a fortnightly basis should work well for the club, along with owners and trainers, who will be able to run their greyhounds on a Wednesday and then back up again on the Sunday if they so desire.”

Tara Raceway will continue to run every Sunday, as will Murray Bridge, racing being conducted on what will be SA’s first one-bend track, while the two clubs will alternate on Wednesdays. Murray Bridge mid-week fixtures will be the first straight track meetings run in SA since those at Kulpara some years ago.

Angle Park will continue to race on Monday and Thursday nights while Gawler will occupy the Tuesday and Friday time slots.

Track categories will be – Category 1: Angle Park (Thursday); Category 2: Angle Park (Monday), Gawler (Friday), Murray Bridge (Sunday); Category 3: Gawler (Tuesday), Murray Bridge (Wednesday), Mount Gambier (Wednesday and Sunday).

Meanwhile, Shepheard said that as from Friday, there would be free entry for all Tara Raceway meetings, bringing the club into line with Angle Park, Gawler and Strathalbyn.

---

Wednesday, July 11, 2018

Glencoe greyhound Ramified continued to defy the odds when leading all the way in last Sunday’s Williams Crane Hire Mixed Stake (400 metres), easily defeating Banjo Queen and Blitz And Bolt in a quick 23.19 seconds.

The son of Magic Sprite and 13-race winner Hey Sexy Lady has now won three of his past five starts at Tara Raceway for owner-trainer Dean Fennell who at the beginning of the year was starting to wonder whether Ramified would in fact ever race again let alone add to his winning tally at the time of six.

“He injured himself early in the year and spent two months sidelined. Then, after one run back he was struck down with a mystery illness and I really thought that we were going to lose him,” he said.

“It turns out he had come down with a rare flesh-eating disease caused by a bacteria that naturally occurs on the skin of dogs, and can turn deadly.

“Fortunately, the disease was identified early enough by local veterinarians and after another three months sidelined he returned to racing, winning again at his fifth start back.”

Ramified will now line up in Sunday’s Trackside Meats Open Stake (400 m), attempting to string together three successive wins when he takes on a top field of short-coursers from box six.

---