Tuesday, June 23, 2020
The Mount Gambier Greyhound Racing Club will celebrate 41 years of racing when the Anniversary Cup is run next month over 512 metres at Tara Raceway.
But this cup will be a little different from the previous 35 run at Glenburnie and Lake Terrace East.
Coinciding with the South East Greyhound Racing Club’s opening meeting date of Saturday, July 21, 1979, this year’s Anniversary Cup will be run as a one-off best eight on Thursday, July 23, irrespective of the border situation at the time.
Disappointingly, this means the meeting may be devoid of any Victorian participation and conducted, as is the case at the moment, with only officials, trainers with greyhounds competing and catchers in attendance.
Complementing the Anniversary Cup will be the one-off John Reid Memorial Maiden (512 m) and the Eric Lewis Memorial (732 m).
Ironically, the three feature events last year were all won by Victorian trainers, Lektra Brandy – who whelped four dogs and two bitches to Zambora Brockie last month – winning the cup in a race record 29.63 seconds for Nifty Lenehan of Portland.
Cimarron Magic won the Reid Memorial for Mumbannar trainer Monty Wilson in 30.59 seconds while Nicole Stanley of Portland landed the trifecta in the Lewis Memorial with Candy Chimes, Ethics and Night Owl in 44.15 seconds.
As far as the Bourne Kennels Mount Gambier Cup was concerned, Shaun Mathieson of Greyhound Racing SA said in view of recent events in Victoria and restrictions regarding COVID-19 he believed it would be unwise to make any specific announcement at this stage.
Meanwhile, the clash of top Anniversary Cup contenders Perseverance and Squishy Pea in today’s Swallow Drive Meats Open Stake (512 m) at Tara Raceway should be the highlight of the day.
The pair is currently well clear of Dyna Carnie in the Mount Gambier Greyhound of the Year award. This also ensures the trio will be the first selected for the one-off Tara Trackstar No. 1 (512 m) which is for the best performed eight greyhounds at Tara Raceway between January and June.
The Trackstar No. 1 scoring concludes on Thursday with Mathieson saying an announcement regarding the running of the event would be made at the same time as the Mount Gambier Cup.