Breeders final set in big week at Gawler
Gawler Breeders final set after Sunday’s heats.
The first series for the 2024 Breeders events kicked off at Gawler with heats of the Gawler Breeders 400m series for SA Bred greyhounds on Sunday.
There were four heats run on Sunday night with trainer Rob Harnas grabbing a double with a pair of nice winners.
The first was Slim Rusty who took out the first heat from box five, showing plenty of early speed with an 8.78 first split and making the most of clear running to win in 22.88 by five lengths ahead of the Bosko Stamenkovic trained Enchufla.
Harnas completed the double in the final heat with Pippa’s Hero prevailing in a tight finish in a time of 22.82.
Pippa’s Hero jumped from box three with four greyhounds all matching it in the early speed battle across the early part of the race.
Eventually, Pippa’s Hero got a break in front and was able to hold off the Kim Johnstone-trained Weblec Delight and the fast-finishing Blazing Butters to book his place in the final with career win number five in 22.82.
The two favourites for the final next week were the winners of the second and third heats on the card, with the Gavin Harris-trained Zinfandel Evie and the Robyn Mackellar-trained Play In Reign.
Zinfandel Evie continued her excellent short-course record in winning the second heat, stopping the clock in a blistering 22.38 which was the best time of the night and one of the fastest times at Gawler in recent months.
The win was career win number 11 from just 21 starts but she is also a perfect eight for eight over the short course distances of 400m or less around the state.
Play In Reign also ran a very quick time, stopping the clock in 22.40 in her seven-length win in the third heat.
Her early speed was a highlight with a blistering 8.50 leaving her rivals in her wake with a comfortable victory for career win number 11 from just 20 starts and sets up an intriguing final next week.
Also on the Gawler card, we saw a number of impressive performances over the 530m including the Ben Rawlings-trained Lauren’s Regret who took out the grade six final after heats were run last week.
From box three, Lauren’s Regret was able to find the rail and hold out Peace Belle who tried to cross over from box eight. Holding the rail, Lauren’s Regret was able to kick away and win by a length in 31.09.
Coorong Cam for Tim Richards took out the grade five race winning an entertaining duel with Anasazi Monelli in 30.97 while Rolling Riot closed out the card with an excellent run of 30.75 to win the mixed grade race for trainer Don Turner.
Wednesday
The love was shared around on Wednesday with ten trainers grabbing winners on the 12-race Valentines Day program. There was a healthy crowd on course with the race day sponsored by Gawler Community Retirement Homes.
The meeting kicked off with Elegant Ritzy taking out the 643m race for trainer Richard Stasiak.
Jumping from box seven, Elegant Ritzy was away on fairly but settled in third around the turn before finding the lead down the back straight and opening an advantage.
Although tiring late, Elegant Ritzy was able to hold on and win by a length in 38.25.
Tony Hinrichsen grabbed a double on the card, with the first being Supreme Sword who took out the open event on the card in 22.76 winning by a length just ahead of Irene for Bec Mcauley-Fry.
Jukebox Duke completed the double, winning a grade five race two races later with a nice run from box two in a time of 23.11.
Bosko Stamenkovic also had a double on the program with Improvisation winning the maiden before the impressive youngster Magical Friend made it four wins from five career starts with a best of the day time of 22.53 to win a grade