Tuesday, August 4, 2020
Allendale East trainer David Peckham once again looks to hold a strong hand in Thursday’s third running of the Tara Trackstar (512 metres) at Tara Raceway.
Introduced last year, the Trackstar is a one-off race run every six months for the most consistent greyhounds at the track during that period.
Peckham will be chasing his third successive win after Flash Jackie defeated Dare To Do and Bab’s Jakit in the inaugural event in July 2019. He then provided the trifecta in the follow-up Trackstar with Dyna Naitch defeating Squishy Pea and Silent Jacko.
He’ll go into the race with three runners – Dyna Carnie, Silent Jacko and Rooster – the former back in business with a 400 metres win last week after having been off the scene for three months due to injury.
Raced by Tim Aloisi and Matt Lehman, Dyna Carnie will be having his 100th start on Thursday after earlier this year running a track record 22.74 seconds over the 400 metres journey.
A month later he ran the second-fastest 512 metres time at Tara Raceway – 29.33 seconds – only three-quarters of a length outside Rockoon’s track record of 29.28 seconds which was recorded more than two years ago.
With the forthcoming Bourne Kennels Mount Gambier Cup in mind, Silent Jacko is now back with Peckham after a stint in Adelaide where he won seven races for the Nineofus Syndicate.
And Rooster has drawn well in box one for Cape Bridgewater owner Scott Blacksell who transferred the black dog to Peckham in April after the SA-Victoria border closure.
Another cup contender in Tandiki, a brilliant 512 metres winner last week in a best of day 29.83 seconds, should also give a great sight in the Trackstar for Compton trainer Tracie Price.
Perseverance, the current Mount Gambier Greyhound of the Year leader, hasn’t enjoyed much luck at her past five starts for Glencoe trainer Dean Fennell but she’s well drawn on Thursday in box two and will be suited by the six-dog field.
Also back in town and lining up from box seven for Worrolong trainer Steve Bartholomew is Galactic Athena after a short stint in Victoria where she raced on four occasions.
Winner of last year’s Mount Gambier Cup, Galactic Athena strung together four consecutive wins at Tara Raceway in April and should appreciate a return to her home track.
Meanwhile, the Gifford Hill-based Tony Rasmussen, SA’s leading trainer with 109 wins at the end of June, returns to Tara Raceway for the first time since the 2017 Mount Gambier Cup with a team of 10.
He will be chasing a $5000 bonus if he can win this year’s Mount Gambier Cup and as such is keen for his cup contenders to have a run on the track prior to the running of the heats on Sunday, August 23.
Greyhound Racing SA will pay the bonus to a trainer who wins both the Murray Bridge Cup and the Mount Gambier Cup in the same year. Rasmussen is half-way there after Hot Sophie scored a shock win at the Bridge in March.
Local trainer Lee Bartholomew will be hoping for a different outcome with Rough Pearl than that of last Sunday night at Murray Bridge when he lines up in the first of three heats of a strong grade five/six series over 512 metres.
It was the second-last race and a case of a fast moving fog enveloping the track immediately prior to and during the running of the 455 metres event – Rough Pearl, as it turned out, emerging from the fog in front.
However, stewards declared the event a no race after the fog obscured the view the lure driver and stewards had of the greyhounds from the turn off the back straight until the turn into the home straight.
Rough Pearl, who ran a terrific second behind Spring Cuervo in the recent Anniversary Cup (512 m) at Tara Raceway, is unlikely to encounter much fog on Thursday afternoon and looks well placed to qualify for next week’s final.
The Price trained Rocketline, after a luckless run in the Anniversary Cup final, should be hard to hold out from box one in the second heat.
And Rasmussen’s Hot Sambuca, a litter brother to Hot Sophie and raced by Angela Meimetis, also looks well boxed in the one in the third heat of the grade five/six series.