Munno Para owner-trainer Tim Aloisi has a strong team lined up to take on this year’s Group 3 Carlin & Gazzard Mount Gambier Cup (512 metres) – heats of which will be run on Sunday, March 26 at Tara Raceway.

Aloisi, trainer of Stout Monelli who shared the 2022 Run of the Year award with Victa Grosso, also won the 2020 Bourne Kennels Mount Gambier Cup with Sunset Milo who ran a race record time of 29.42 seconds.

He said while he was looking to have four runners in the cup it was unlikely that they would have a run on the track prior to the heats.

“It’s a tough ask coming to a new track with greyhounds. I’ve tried it before and it hasn’t worked. But I rolled the dice with Sunset Milo and it paid off.”

Making the trip to Mount Gambier will be Ravers Army who ran fifth as a $2.40 favourite behind Panorama in Sunday night’s Murray Bridge Cup final. Accompanying the son of Fernando Bale and Bella Rico will be Mepunga Raider, third in a Murray Bridge Cup heat when a $2.15 favourite.

Aloisi said two recent WA “Monelli” purchases were still both tied up with commitments in the Perth Cup and Galaxy series but would also contest the Mount Gambier Cup.

And while on the subject of Aloisi, it’s worth mentioning that he’s another of the “away” trainers who has got behind the Tara Tipsters – a Mount Gambier Greyhound Racing Club (MGGRC) charity initiative.

From humble beginnings, the Tara Tipsters now has 25 combatants contributing a few dollars each week to the charity jar as they strive for bragging rights.

The competition runs in two-month cycles with the Mount Gambier Cancer Support Group to receive a cheque at the beginning of May.

Aloisi has fitted in quite well. Actually, too well, some might say. After three rounds he now leads the competition with 96 points.

Lewiston-based Ben Rawlings, trainer of Panorama, will be looking to become the first trainer to land the Murray Bridge Cup-Mount Gambier Cup incentive bonuses and collect $10,000.

Greyhound Racing SA (GRSA) has on offer a $5000 bonus if the same greyhound can complete the cups double. Another $5000 is on offer if the same trainer can win both races, either with the same dog or different dogs.

Rawlings confirmed this week that the daughter of Fernando Bale and Panamera would now head to Mount Gambier in a bid to win another Group 3 race and collect the GRSA incentive bonuses.

For Rawlings, who trained 191 winners in 2022, this year will be his fifth attempt to win the Mount Gambier Cup.

In 2013 he was down with King Ashy and Mighty Chaos who failed to make the final won by Colville. In 2016 Caustic Bale was unplaced in Mojito Mayhem’s final. And in 2020 Call Me Billy was unplaced behind Sunset Milo. Last year, he had Spring Phoebe and Mr. Ticket engaged in the heats.

The final of the 43rd Mount Gambier Cup will be run on Sunday, April 2. Complementing the cup will be the Exchange Printers Mount Gambier Cup Consolation, Produce Store Maiden, Winning Post Supplies Formula 400, Tankman 600, Rocks Tavern Distance and the Commersh Masters.

Meanwhile, the long-running Mount Gambier Cup project whereby all the winners’ photographs and their connections are displayed in the clubrooms is now all but complete.

It was on show for the first time at Sunday’s race meeting and went back to the first cup meeting out at Glenburnie in 1981 when Tara Topar was successful.

Colin Ian, the last cup winner at Glenburnie in 1996 was there. As was Ashanti Gem, the first cup winner at Lake Terrace East.

For the time being, Departure Gate, the cup’s first Group 3 winner in 2022, is the final photograph on display. But there’s plenty of room remaining for the winners still to come.

Mount Gambier Greyhound Racing Club president, Noel Perry, this week extended his thanks to the people who had helped to get the project off the ground.

“In particular, I’d like to thank Bronwyn Nicholson of Todd’s Photographics who had the arduous task of sifting through the archives to find the cup winners going back to 1981.

“Given that many of the cup winners were on film she did a terrific job to sort them all out. In fact it’s really quite remarkable that she was able to find all but two. But as it turned out we were able to source those from the winning connections.

“And I’d also like to thank Rhys Stuckey of Hyland Fox for his help and advice in getting this project off the ground.”