It’s fair to say that former Moyston trainer Peter Franklin, these days based at Mortlake, has trained his fair share of record-breaking greyhounds over a variety of distances at Tara Raceway.

First there was Ireland’s Oyster (400 metres), followed by Mojito Mayhem (512 metres) and McIvor Verna (600 metres).

Then, at last Thursday’s time-graded meeting at Tara Raceway, Franklin established his own record-breaking figures of 41 in the Tara Tipsters competition when selecting nine winners, two seconds and one third on the 12-race card.

Adding to Franklin’s impressive effort was the fact that Thursday meetings, unlike Sunday meetings, carry no eight-point bonuses for winning nominated greyhounds selected by the tipsters.

The Tara Tipsters competition is made up of race day regulars who donate to the charity jar at the twice-weekly meetings. All donations are then handed on to a local nominated charity.

Local charities to have so far benefited from the Tara Tipsters’ generosity include the Sunset Community Kitchen, Foodbank, Visually Impaired Club of Mount Gambier, Grantville Court Thrift Shop, Four Reasons Why, Claro, Christmas Day Community Lunch and the Mount Gambier Cancer Support Group.

Representatives from the selected charities are invited out to a specific race meeting on a Sunday afternoon at Tara Raceway where they receive a Tara Tipsters donation.

Also featured on the day is the running of the Tara Tipsters Cup and a race named after the selected charity.