It’s marvellous what a decent box draw and a run on the track can make to a greyhound’s chances in a Group 1 final.
Just ask Allendale East owner-trainer David Peckham whose career reached new heights at Sandown Park on Thursday night with a greyhound called Bourne Model.
It’s not that the 50-year-old son of former Mount Gambier leading trainer Allen Peckham hadn’t been successful in his own right over a number of years – leading Mount Gambier trainer in 2012-2014 and in 2019-2021, complemented along the way with numerous feature race wins.
At her first start at Sandown Park the previous week, Bourne Model had overcome box six and reached the Sapphire Crown final (515 metres). Fair enough, there were quicker qualifiers in the bitches-only final but it was the Peckham-trained Bourne Model who had drawn box one.
“I reckon I analysed the final a 100 times leading up to Thursday night,” he said. “I was hoping that perhaps Dashing Slay would stay out in the middle of the track and Tammy (Bourne Model) could find the lead around the first turn and take her chances from there.
“But this had been a good field and her heat time compared to Dashing Slay and Lakeview Emily meant that she would have to find a bit. So it was fingers crossed and as long as she made it around safely a first four finish would be icing on the cake.”
However, $13 chance Bourne Model did more than ice the cake. Leading all the way, the daughter of Feral Franky and Sweet On Me collected $75,000 and took her prize money earnings to $111,510 when defeating Lakeview Emily by 1¼ lengths in 29.29 seconds.
“I have to say, last night was surreal and I was in a state of disbelief,” Peckham said. “But come this morning and when I awoke and saw the rug and crown sitting there I realised it wasn’t a dream. No, Tammy had made the dream come true by winning a Group 1 in Melbourne.”
Sweet On Me, a daughter of Barcia Bale and Call Me Gee, had been purchased jointly from Warrnambool breeder-owner Noel Mugavin by Peckham and the Nineofus Syndicate after she had fallen at her first race start at Sandown Park in September 2019.
Following relocation to Allendale East, early the following year she won the Summer Classic at Tara Raceway and by the time she was retired in October 2021 she had won 21 races at Mount Gambier, Angle Park, Murray Bridge and Gawler.
Sweet On Me’s first litter, by US sire Superior Panama, has produced some handy types in Bourne Sarah, Bourne Sid, Captain Rosie and Mocambora Mia. But it is her second litter, whelped in September 2022 and by Feral Franky, that now boasts Group 1 status.
Further reflecting on Bourne Model’s all the way win on Thursday night, Peckham said he had been hoping there wasn’t going to be a repeat of the last time he had a runner engaged in a Group 1 event at Sandown Park.
“I still remember the night – June 30, 2001 – and Connie Miller and I had Bourne A Delight, who was trained in Victoria by Graeme Bate, engaged in the Laurels final. She turned for home in front but ended up running a half-length second to Hail A Harley.”
Peckham is now weighing up his options in relation to the placement of Bourne Model from a racing point of view and is looking to map out a program for her.
“I’m pretty keen on Queensland’s Winter Racing Carnival which looks to have plenty to offer,” he said. “That then would entail placing her with a trainer up north or taking her there myself.”
Meanwhile, Peckham made a point of acknowledging the assistance of his team, past and present, and the hard yards they put in at Bourne Kennels.
“Good dogs make the hard yards worth it as we in the industry know only too well,” said the trainer who has come a fair way since that first winner, Magic Bundy, out at Glenburnie back in 1992.
And the journey’s not over yet.
Actually, Thursday turned out to be a pretty good day for Peckham’s Bourne Kennels with Andrew Earl left to hold the fort at Tara Raceway. He duly led in three winners in the form of Aston Azul, Bourne Sarah and Federal Tiger.
Photos: courtesy Jason McKeown Photography.
