A Gem of a Win
The introduction of fortnightly Time-Based Graded meetings on Saturday mornings at Angle Park is providing more opportunities to lower grade greyhounds to find form and that elusive maiden victory. One of those greyhounds was Maria’s Gem who in Race 1 on Saturday 5th September claimed her first win from 14 starts in what was one of the slowest wins on record over the 388m distance.
Maria’s Gem, trained by Robert Isaacson, took out Race 1 in a time of 23.42, 22 lengths behind the current track record of 21.88. Robert stated that he “wasn’t surprised in the time that she ran but was surprised that she won in that time.”
As the trainer of some of the best dogs South Australia has seen in the past such as Skull Murphy and Galilee Spirit, Robert said that “it is good to have Time Graded meetings for dogs like Maria’s Gem. There is a big gap between their ability and those winning in Group and Open races and without these opportunities, they would likely end up in the Greyhound Adoption Program earlier.”
Robert believes that she is likely only going to be racing in pathway meetings depending on how much she can improve with age. As a young 2-year-old, with only had 14 starts, Robert said, “Maria’s Gem can run faster than she did on Saturday, as she tends to run as fast as other dogs in the race around her. Her breeding suggests she can run 500m but we will see what comes with her with a bit more age.”
The daughter of SA star sire Worm Burner and Molly Dobbs had raced 2 times prior at Angle Park prior to her win as she has mostly trialled and raced at Gawler and being SA bred Robert won the Maiden Bonus as well as receiving a dividend from the SA Bred Scheme.
GRSA is happy the new Saturday morning timeslot every fortnight has been able to provide more racing opportunities for greyhounds of all abilities while also providing punters and fans more opportunities to watch our code.
