Wednesday, September 11, 2019
Kyneton greyhound trainer Adam Wilcock, fresh from a double at his first visit to Tara Raceway last month, will be hoping his greyhound Run Fast Bonnie can go one better when she contests the Rock’s Retreat grade five final (400 metres) on Sunday afternoon.
On the back of a Geelong win over 460 metres, Run Fast Bonnie was having her first start at the track in a heat of the series last week when chasing Another Scenario throughout to go down by 1¾ lengths in 23.21 seconds.
By Kayda Shae (11 wins, $232,000) out of Starlight Blush, a winner of 10 races in three states, Run Fast Bonnie will take on a smart field that also includes a couple of other quick heat winners in Azalea Monelli (23.10 seconds) and Azumi Stringer (23.18 seconds).
But Wilcock’s fawn bitch, with a record of five wins, two seconds and three thirds from only 22 starts, should be improved by the run on the track and looks to be well drawn in box two.
With four G-SIX heats of the grade five series run last week, there appeared to be confusion as to the number of dogs contesting the final (six or eight), some trainers believing that first and second would automatically advance to what would be an eight-dog final.
However, Greyhound Racing SA grader, Greg Barber, said this week that generally speaking if the heats were run as G-SIX events (six-dog fields) then the final would also comprise only six dogs.
“When clubs are running G-SIX races and four quadrella legs with eight dogs then it can become a bit confusing,” he said.
“My advice to trainers with greyhounds that they believe could be in the mix for a finals berth would be that they nominate anyway. That way if they are not in the final then they can still be considered for another race on the program.”
The win of the Tim Aloisi and Matt Lehman owned Azalea Monelli was David Peckham’s fourth win of the day after Cruising By, Coco Suzy and Usain Insane had previously been successful for Tara Raceway’s leading trainer.
Locally, this year the Allendale East-based Peckham has trained 78 winners which includes 17 doubles and six trebles along with four winners on two other occasions and five winners on April 3 – Bourne Birdie, Pirate’s Curse, Bourne Blackjack, Flash Jackie and Bourne Bill.
Meanwhile, SA Country Cup contenders Springvale Alysa, Bourne Thanks and Wanchai Express will clash in Sunday’s Greyhound-Data.com Open Stake (512 m) as a lead-up to Sunday week’s Country Cup heat/s.
Last week Springvale Alysa led all the way from box eight to defeat Bourne Thanks by two lengths in the Laser Electrical Open Stake (512 m) in 30.09 seconds, the daughter of Dyna Double One x Springvale Cool looking even better served this week after drawing box one.
And as far as this year’s Country Cup is concerned, Kongorong trainer John Little will be hoping for a bit more luck than last year when Springvale Alysa ran third in her heat – beaten only 2¼ lengths in 29.92 seconds – behind Hutch and Theo’s Thunder.
The enigmatic Wanchai Express, a Mount Gambier Cup finalist this year, and a winner at Tara Raceway over 512 metres in 29.68 seconds last month, had a hit-out on Wednesday for Portland trainer Nicole Stanley over 350 metres up the straight at Murray Bridge where he ran second.
Black Spring, a strong 600 metre winner at Tara Raceway last Sunday, steps up to 732 metres on Sunday for Edenhope trainer Cap Abbott prior to dropping back in distance and taking on the Country Cup.
The son of Spring Gun and Lektra Scarlett has raced only the once over 732 metres at the local track, back in June when he ran city-winning stayer Dyna Quota to 1¼ lengths in a near-record 43.50 seconds.
“I reckon he’s now going as well as he ever has and I liked the way he went to the line over 600 metres last week,” Abbott said. “Who knows, he might even be able to lower Nellie Noodles’ 43.45 second track record.”