Wednesday, May 30, 2018
Three years ago owner Robert Chuck listened on the radio at Moorak to his greyhound Galactic Viper win the Group 3 Howard Ashton Classic at Angle Park.
It was a win that had got off to something of a rocky start when Galactic Viper’s trainer at the time, David Geall of Lara in Victoria, a month earlier on April 27, 2015 had made the long trip to Angle Park to run the dog in a lead-up race in readiness for the $35,700 classic.
However, he missed the turn-off to the track and by the time he found his way back to Angle Park he had been too late for kennelling and Galactic Viper was declared a late scratching.
The following week, though, he ran second in a heat, third in a semi-final a week later and then on May 28 won the $25,000-to-the-winner final – which included Mojito Mayhem, later a multiple cups winner and track record holder at Tara Raceway – by six lengths in 29.83 seconds.
It’s probably fair to say that Chuck still regrets not being at Angle Park that night to witness what has been his biggest win in greyhound racing.
But he will be at Angle Park tomorrow night, along with Worrolong trainer Steve Bartholomew, cheering on Galactic Panther, a dog he bred and owns, as he attempts to win the 515 metre 2018 Group 3 Howard Ashton Classic.
And in what will be a big night for local greyhounds, Compton trainer Tracie Price has Paraphernalia (box 1), Bekim Lucy’s (box 8) and Cryer’s Plugger (box 8) lining up in heats of the Shane McQueen (600 m).