Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Even though leading local trainer David Peckham, of Allendale East’s Bourne Kennels, nominated 17 greyhounds for Sunday’s Tara Raceway meeting it wasn’t enough for the meeting to proceed.
This was the second Mount Gambier Greyhound Racing Club meeting to be cancelled in the past three weeks due in part to the canine gastroenteritis outbreak and more recently coronavirus-related border closures.
Peckham, who had 13 runners for four winners at last Sunday’s 11-race meeting, said Tara Raceway would always receive his full support.
“All of us who are involved in greyhound racing in the region need to throw our support behind the MGGRC in order that the sport can return as quickly as possible to how it was prior to the virus outbreaks when we were running two meetings a week at Tara Raceway,” he said.
With the Murray Bridge Greyhound Racing Club extending nominations until Tuesday for Friday’s meeting, Peckham was able to implement an either/or clause on his nomination forms in the likelihood of Mount Gambier not conducting a meeting this Sunday.
“I looked at Murray Bridge as a second preference with a few of my better dogs but when there was no announcement regarding the extending of nominations at Mount Gambier I thought the meeting was going ahead.
“That wasn’t to be, though, an announcement coming out later in the day to say the Mount Gambier meeting had been cancelled due to a lack of nominations. In the end, I found myself with nine runners at Murray Bridge on Friday,” he said.
Friday’s runners include his winners from last Sunday – Bourne Blackjack, Dyna Alistair, Dyna Carnie and Call Me Billy – along with Our Man Zed, Sweet On Me, Silent Jacko, Squishy Pea and Fabs You Go.
And as far as Peckham is concerned, he’ll be hoping for a case of third time lucky at the Murray Bridge track when he attempts to open his winning account with what appears to be a very strong line-up.
Meanwhile, with news filtering through last Sunday of the forthcoming Tuesday border closure, several Victorian trainers went out on a winning note, including Tara Raceway regulars Robert Halliday and Kevin Ward.
Conductor, raced by Mark Morrissey of Junortoun, was having his first race start for Halliday after joining his litter brothers Rotate and Local Brew – winners of six races and three races respectively – at the trainer’s Portland kennels last month.
And the Halliday-bred son of General Destini x Guru Doll never looked in any danger of defeat when leading all the way in the Winningformula.net.au Maiden Stake (400 metres) to defeat Crackerjack Jaws by five lengths in 23.70 seconds.
General Destini was a litter brother to Destini Fireball, the sire of later winner Akuma Fireball, while Guru Doll is a litter sister to 2013 SA Oaks winner Kokoda Spirit and former Tara Raceway 400 metre record holder Star Doll.
Mount Moriac-based Ward brought up his second win this month at Tara Raceway with Go Rosie who came from a fair way back in last Sunday’s Williams Crane Hire Stake (400 m) to defeat Black Moscato by three-quarters of a length in 23.60 seconds.
A giveaway greyhound after winning a maiden at Warrnambool last December, Go Rosie is by Cosmic Rumble out of Mepunga Rosie, a winner of 17 races and more than $125,000 in stakemoney.
Whelped in September 2017, Go Rosie is a member of a pretty handy litter that includes Mepunga Isla (7 wins, $24,000 in stakemoney), Driftin’ Away (10, $44,000) and Mepunga Maggie (11, $54,000).