Barely’s Era wins for the first time in nearly a year!
Wednesday
On a card that threw up some impressive performances, particularly for the Wednesday meeting, we had 12 individual winners which is always great.
Roger Harris was one of those winners, with Uncle Ray making the most of his call up from the reserve bench. After coming up with box two, he was able to show some terrific early speed, leading with a quick 8.65 first split. He was holding a 3 length margin down the back straight before getting tired late, but holding on for a very nice 23.03 win. Roger didn’t have any dogs race in 2021, but this year since starting again, he has had 3 winners from 9 starters, which is a handy strike rate!
Barely’s Era hasn’t found winning easy in her career, but on Wednesday, nearly 1 year to the date of her last victory, she was able to meet the finishing line first with a fantastic gallop. She drew box seven in a strong grade 6 field, but was able to make light of that as she jumped beautifully to find herself in front. She was looking good down the back straight, and that didn’t change, as she won by 2 lengths, breaking the 23 second barrier as well. She proved this win was no fluke as well, winning again on Sunday and going even quicker! Well done to Barely’s Era and to trainer Colin Rana for persisting with the fawn bitch.
Aston Stella is in a rich vein of form at the moment, with her trainer June Sharpe doing a fantastic job. She drew poorly with box eight, but her early brilliance saw her offset that with relative ease. After the quick beginning, she found herself in front with a big margin down the back, with the race over from there. The end result was a 3 length victory in 23.11. That’s now 3 wins from the last 4 starts for the black bitch, who is now approaching masters age. Well done June, hopefully she can keep her good form going!
Sunday
Kim Johnstone enjoyed her Sunday night at Gawler, with two impressive winners. Velocity Comet showed how capable she is, taking out a grade 5 over the 400m trip. It was a tough race, but from box two the white and black bitch was able to put it all together. She jumped perfectly and found herself on the arm, and from there she was just too quick, never looking like getting caught as she led all the way in 22.79. Kim then had to wait until the last race but it was worthwhile, as Plausible Dream was also able to win from box two. He landed in second early, but just had to wait to navigate the leader as they hit the turn. He was able to get in front, before holding on in a thriller.
Paula Hearnden has just got her team starting to fire up and on Sunday she had Sintra take out its maiden win impressively. From box two, the red & brindle chaser came out fairly, landing on the rail just behind the leader. A powerful mid race move saw her take over down the back, before putting the race away rather quickly and running home strongly. The end result was 2 length victory in 23.04, which was quite an improvement from her debut effort, which is always a good sign for a young bitch. Hopefully she can continue to improve because she certainly has some ability.
Nicole Price was another big winner from the meeting on Sunday, with two winners of her own. Dramatic Diva was the first, as she overcame box seven with a brilliant display. She flew out of the boxes in a slick 8.65, quickly putting a margin on the rest of the field. The race was all over from there as she clocked a quick 22.98 gallop. Spring Mayfield completed the double, as she continued her fantastic form. She had box eight in what was quite a strong grade 4/5 field over the 531m trip, but that didn’t worry her at all. She jumped fairly but mustered really well, finding herself in front before they hit the turn. From there she was just too quick, holding a 3 length lead the entire trip and stopping the clock at 30.78, which is a very handy run!