Following the running of four heats of the Cadillac Racing Autumn Classic (512 metres) at Tara Raceway last Sunday, Finniss trainer Lauren Harris now holds a strong hand in the $10,000 final with her three locally-owned finalists.
Harris-trained greyhounds – Galactic Neutron, Galactic Nemesis and Hey You Guys – won the first three heats with Galactic Nemesis taking the time honours when leading all the way from box three and defeating Vixen Force by 5¼ lengths in 29.92 seconds.
A daughter of Blue Moon Rising, Galactic Nemesis is out of Galactic Athena, successful in the 2019 Mount Gambier Cup for Steve Bartholomew and Robert Chuck, the latter also owning Sunday’s fastest heat winner.
In heat three, litter sister Hey You Guys took the lead going out of the first turn and defied Mr. Tangelo to run her down. On the line she had 2¼ lengths to spare in another smart time of 29.94 seconds.
She is owned by Bartholomew’s daughter Deb Hicks and her husband Craig, who purchased her as a pup from Steve and Lee Bartholomew of Worrolong.
“We’d been out at Worrolong one day and had liked the look of a black pup there. As it turned out, she was the only one left. Then, the next time at the in-laws she was still in the run. It was a case of not being able to help ourselves,” Hicks said.
Harris and Chuck also combined to win the first heat of the classic with Galactic Neutron, a son of Feral Franky and Galactic Horizon – a litter sister to Galactic Athena.
Away well from box three, $19 chance Galactic Neutron led all the way and in a desperate finish held on to defeat Anna Force by a head in 30.30 seconds.
In relation to Galactic Neutron, Chuck said that prior to racing the brindle dog had injured a back leg muscle when galloping.
“Then, would you believe it, one of his kneecaps kept popping out. So I turned him out into a long run and in time he came good. I must say, though, no one was more surprised than me.”
From a Mount Gambier feature race point of view, Harris – whose partner Ryan Tugwell stood in for her last Sunday – will now be hoping she can go one better in the Autumn Classic final.
“We were down in Mount Gambier back in 2016 for the cup and reached the final with Danyo’s Frank who ran second in a heat to Fluke Of Fantasy,” she said. “Then in the final he ran second again, this time to Mojito Mayhem.”
Incidentally, Fluke Of Fantasy had been trained by Peter Crawley who has Anna Force and Vixen Force through to Sunday’s Autumn Classic final.
Harris’ interest in greyhound racing stemmed from her mother who originally trained in Whyalla before relocating to Adelaide and training from a suburban backyard.
“Along the way I have been fortunate enough to have been associated with some knowledgeable greyhound people such as Michael Giniotis who really guided me in the right direction. Then about eight years ago we moved to Finniss and our own 10 acre property.”
According to Harris, their association with the Bartholomew family and Chuck came about after an out of the blue phone call.
“Steve had made contact enquiring as to whether we would be interested in training a few of their greyhounds. The association kicked off with Mary Bridget and has gone on from there with Yoda Lady giving us all a great thrill when winning the Howard Ashton at Angle Park last year.”
Come the last of the Autumn Classic heats and the Tracie Price owned and trained Compton Gold, a recent placegetter in the Group 3 Murray Bridge Cup, jumped a short-priced favourite from box eight.
But the daughter of Beast Unleashed and Minnie Banjo had to work hard before finishing powerfully in the home straight and defeating High Cube by a head in 30.10 seconds.
This year marks the first running of the $10,000 Autumn Classic, an offshoot of the age-restricted Summer Classic which had first been run in 2015.
And while the age restriction on the race hasn’t changed, it is now being run several months later in the hope that more greyhounds will be sufficiently seasoned to contest the Autumn Classic. The Spring Classic in November will be for greyhounds whelped on or after July 1, 2023.
Previous winning Summer Classic trainers who will be chasing a win in the Autumn Classic on Sunday are Robert Halliday – High Cube (2017 Hutch) and Tracie Price – Compton Gold (2023 Honey Rocks, 2024 Wild Banker).
