Monday, October 29, 2018
Fortnightly Wednesday race meetings will kick off at Tara Raceway on January 9.
The mid-week meetings at Mount Gambier’s track will alternate with Murray Bridge which is programmed to commence racing on Wednesday, December 19 – both tracks also racing on a weekly basis on Sundays.
Fortnightly Friday meetings will continue at Tara Raceway during November on the 2nd, 16th and 30th and on December 14 and December 21, this being the club’s Christmas meeting which will be highlighted by the running of the Williams Crane Hire Christmas Cup final (512 metres).
Previous winners of the Christmas Cup, first run in 2011, have been Napoleon Wiz (David Peckham), Lika Gem (Allen Williams), Bourne Again (David Peckham), Who’s Doing What (Tracie Price), Fear The Rascal (Tracie Price), Glenville Jester (Richard Clayfield) and last year Hit The Runway (Nicole Stanley).
November’s racing highlight is the 33rd running of the Newman McDonnell Memorial, for grade five greyhounds over 512 metres, with heats on November 11 and the final a week later.
First run in 1986 at Glenburnie, the inaugural memorial was won by Kenzel Lad with subsequent winners at that track being Bozie Flyer, Irkanda Leo, Invercoe Riot, National Ribbon, Foxtrot Oscar, Bush Pepper, Larradinya, Wild Welcome, Colin Ian, while the final winner, in 1996, was Ashanti Gem.
Recent winners of the memorial at the Lake Terrace East venue include John Cameron’s Camo’s Lucky in 2012, Bourne Again the following two years for David Peckham, while the past three winners have been Boris Bekim (Barney Fish), Glenville Jester (Richard Clayfield) and Lektra Stomp, who in 2017 won in a race record time of 29.69 seconds for Phil Lenehan.
Meanwhile, locally-based Smart Knocka, winner of the Adelaide Cup Consolation (515 m) at Angle Park earlier this month, has drawn box eight in the second heat of tomorrow’s Group 3 Gawler Gold Cup (531 m).
Trained at Compton by Tracie Price, Smart Knocka will clash with Oshkosh Erny, who led for a long way in the consolation before finishing third, and Reiko Rocketta, winner of the SA Country Cup on the same night.
Price has also drawn box eight in the fourth and final heat with his 16-race winner Blazing Moment who will clash with Fabwik, unplaced favourite in the Adelaide Cup final.
In what is SA greyhound racing’s biggest country cup, the first two placegetters from each Gawler Gold Cup heat will make up Sunday night’s final, the winner receiving $25,000.