Mount Gambier Greyhound Racing Club

Tara Raceway, Lake Terrace East, Mount Gambier, SA

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First winner for Mount Gambier GOTY

It was back in 2020 that the Glencoe-trained Perseverance won a keenly-contested Mount Gambier Greyhound of the Year award when defeating Dyna Carnie by one point with a further point back to Keen One.

Perseverance, a daughter of Dyna Double One and Miss Freelove, was raced by long-time local stalwart Michael Robinson and trained by Dean Fennell who first became involved in the sport when greyhound racing switched to its purpose-built complex on Lake Terrace East in January 1997.

Michael Robinson and Dean Fennell with Magic Poppy after her first win at Tara Raceway last Thursday.

All told, the black bitch – so named due to her reluctance to initially chase the lure and the amount of time it took for her to finally switch on – raced on 74 occasions for 16 wins before being retired in August 2021 and returning to her breeder Karen Price of Compton.

In April 2023 Perseverance whelped her first litter – six dogs and three bitches by the promising sire Feral Franky. Fennell ended up with two pups while the remainder are spread far and wide from Meningie to Murtoa and the Coonawarra to Compton.

The first of the litter to race – a brindle bitch called Magic Poppy – turned up at last Thursday’s time-graded meeting at Tara Raceway. Not in Fennell’s name, mind you, but in that of his wife, Edna, whose success in owning and training goes back to early 2021 and a dog called King Smiley.

And the Commercial Hotel Maiden Stake (305 metres) made for a successful comeback for Edna after Magic Poppy soon found the front from box six before running out a 1¾ length winner over Menari Ace in 18.04 seconds.

Robinson, a Tara Raceway regular, was on track last week to witness the win and to recall that “road trip from hell” that Fennell and he undertook to Gawler to race Perseverance back in June 2020.

“Tracie Price also had greyhounds engaged that day. But he intended staying overnight thus necessitating the taking of two cars and a travelling companion for the long trip home for Deano who was returning the same day,” Robinson said.

“To be honest, I would rather have been home watching the race on television. I need a week to get over one those sort of trips. But Tracie ensured the convoy made it to the Gawler track.

“Perseverance faced a daunting task that day, though, when taking on Boom Down, a winner of 22 races and close to $300,000 in prize money. And after missing the start she never really got into the race when finishing fifth.

“If nothing else, we figured Perseverance should have benefited from a run on a different track and as such would appreciate returning to Tara Raceway.”

However, the intrepid travellers still had to get back to Mount Gambier.

“Fair enough, we should have taken more notice of the route we were taking on the way up,” Robinson said. “But I think Tracie said take two turns left and one right. That will get you to Williamstown. Keep going to Palmer and before long you’ll hit Murray Bridge.

“Maybe he said two turns right and one left, I don’t know. All I know is that before long Deano had us hopelessly lost. And Williamstown was nowhere in sight!

“In the end he suggested we head to Adelaide and then travel to Mount Gambier via the South Eastern Freeway. That sounded like a good idea.

“The only trouble was that for the second time that night we found ourselves hopelessly lost, this time in Adelaide – and still a long way from home. Finally, though, we drove into Mount Gambier at some ungodly hour on the Saturday morning.”

However, Robinson, Fennell and Perseverance were all back in their comfort zones a few days later. Owner and trainer took no wrong turns when making their way to Tara Raceway while Perseverance ran a personal best time of 35.18 seconds over 600 metres when winning by 5¾ lengths.

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