Monday, August 5, 2019
For Ararat father and son training team, Doug and Paul Hammerstein, it was a case of keeping it in the family at Tara Raceway’s time-graded meeting last Thursday when they were successful with half-brothers Jacobite Joseph and Jacobite Hammer.
By Al Moran, a winner of 37 races, Jacobite Joseph is out of Moonshine Whippy, a daughter of Kiacatoo Pearl – the dam of Shakey Jakey, retired to stud after one record-breaking start over 520 metres at Wentworth Park.
In Paul Hammerstein’s kennels since April 2018 after winning a maiden at Bathurst the previous October and then spending four months on the sidelines after indiscretions at Bulli and Dubbo, Jacobite Joseph had last won six months ago at Horsham over 410 metres.
And the black dog’s return to Tara Raceway on July 11, his first run at the track since finishing unplaced behind Slingshot Hammer in a heat of the Mount Gambier Cup in March, also wasn’t without incident – stewards ruling that he would have to run a satisfactory trial after a catching pen incident.
But come last Thursday and Jacobite Joseph, after satisfying stewards with a 23.53 seconds 400 metre trial, lined up from box eight in the Gambier Vets Stake (400 m) looking to win his first race at the track since January.
Once he found the fence he was always going to be hard to beat, scraping the paint in the home straight and eventually running out a three-quarter length winner over Chucky Brown in 23.65 seconds.
Younger half-brother Jacobite Hammer (by Swift Fancy), raced by his breeder Joanne Kerr of Forest Reefs in partnership with Doug Hammerstein, was looking to make amends for three costly defeats at Tara Raceway last month.
Chasing his first win at Tara Raceway, Jacobite Hammer never looked in any danger of defeat in the Produce Store Stake (512 m), leading all the way from box two to defeat Will Eye Am by 5¼ lengths in a best of day 30.02 seconds.
Portland trainer Andy Graham won his first race with Akuma Fireball – picked up for $1000 after having won a maiden in June – when the black dog led all the way in the Klaassens Contractors Stake (512 m) to defeat Kracka Barcia by 1½ lengths in 30.28 seconds.
By Group 1 winning stayer Destini Fireball, a winner of 25 races and $631,000 in stakemoney, Akuma Fireball is out of Lektra Angie, a daughter of Trewly Special x Elektra who won her maiden over 512 metres at Tara Raceway in November 2012 in 29.93 seconds.
The litter also includes Victorian winners Lektra Fireball, Lektra Perry and Lektra Rainbow as well as Rebel Ruth who also won at Tara Raceway on Thursday.
A litter sister to Tara Raceway’s current leading dam, Lektra Scarlett, the Victorian city-winning Lektra Angie is also the dam of former 512 metre track record holder Lektra Stomp (by Walk Hard).
And while on the subject of Lektra greyhounds, a phone call from Mount Gambier owner-trainer Noel Perry to Toolong breeder Phil Lenehan early last month paid dividends at Sunday’s meeting.
Looking for a greyhound to race at Tara Raceway, Perry had rung Lenehan to see if he had any performed stock that he was interested in selling.
“At the time Phil didn’t have any dogs for sale that would suit my requirements but he did have a bitch by Fabregas out of Lektra Stroke that had been returned from Melbourne after being unplaced in her only seven starts.
“Her name was Lektra Phyliss and a litter sister to Lektra Zephyr, a winner of nine races and $43,000 in stakemoney. He said if I wanted to have a play around with her at Tara Raceway then I could have her.
“I figured I didn’t have much to lose so I decided to give her a go although I told Phil I was still keen to purchase a performed dog from him when one arose,” Perry said.
Lektra Phyliss, on the back of a first-up second behind Galactic Zeus over 400 metres, lined up from box two in Sunday’s Rock’s Retreat Stake (512 m), the first maiden/one win event to be run at Tara Raceway.
And in what looked to be a more than handy field, Lektra Phyliss ran her rivals ragged, defeating Miss Adelaide by 3¾ lengths in the smart time of 30.18 seconds and gave Perry his eighth winner at the track this year.