Chapel Road goes one better in Mount Gambier Cup
Chapel Road goes one better in Mount Gambier Cup
For Two Wells trainer Kiah Hurley the win of Chapel Road in last Sunday’s Group 3 Cadillac Racing Mount Gambier Cup (512 metres) was a case of going one better after a length second-placing behind Adhana Rico in the recent Group 3 Murray Bridge Cup (455 m).
It’s now history how Adhana Rico, in a bid to collect a Greyhound Racing SA $10,000 bonus for winning both cups, was narrowly beaten in his Mount Gambier heat and failed to make the final, given there had been eight heats.
Also history is how Chapel Road shot away around the first turn in the final, opening up a handy break and leaving fellow Two Wells greyhound Paua Of Silence to do the chasing.
But in the run home it was Mighty Quinn who threw out the challenge, something he did gallantly when going down by two lengths in a winning time of 29.56 seconds. Finishing a further two lengths back in third spot was Paua Of Silence.
Odds-on favourite Uriel Bale, a brilliant heat winner the previous week in a track record 29.15 seconds, found himself in trouble on the first turn and from then on was never really a chance.
Let’s not take anything away from Chapel Road and his trainer, though, who certainly put in the hard yards in a bid to win the Mount Gambier Cup – to the extent of making sure the black dog trialled at Tara Raceway.
“This is by far my biggest win and to be honest it hasn’t really sunk in yet,” an over the moon Hurley said. “I’m not sure how many times I watched the race replay on the way home.
“I have to say, though, the win was a real family affair with my partner Justin (Tribe) the backbone of the operation. Granny and my sister Jayde also are a great help.
“From a family point of view the only disappointment is that my Pa (John Hurley) didn’t live long enough to also enjoy our greatest win.”
By Bernardo out of 11-race winner Sunset Senorita, Chapel Road was purchased after falling in a race at Sandown Park in November last year by a syndicate managed locally by Nick Lalli and Troy Maynard.
“At the time he was being trained by Andrew Xerri who suggested to Justin that Chapel Road would be a good purchase to race in SA,” Hurley said.
“He was then off the scene for about five months with minor injuries before he raced in SA at Murray Bridge where he won a heat of the Murray Bridge Cup.”
But she said the Mount Gambier Cup winner would bypass the forthcoming $50,000 Anniversary Cup at Angle Park.
“We looked at it but we didn’t really want to push him. It’s been a pretty busy time for him what with travelling to Mount Gambier to give him a look at the track and then returning twice for the heat and final.”
Hurley’s first win at Tara Raceway was back in June 2021 with a greyhound called Sarcasmic – raced by Victorian-based Jeff Galea, whose son Ryan was represented in last Sunday’s cup by Bern By.
It has to be said the 2024 Cadillac Racing Mount Gambier Cup meeting went off pretty well. Extensive promotion resulted in a top crowd – the best ever, some suggested.
And as far as the cup itself went, handlers looked resplendent in their white Mount Gambier souvenir tops which included the greyhound’s name and “2024 Cadillac Racing Mt. Gambier Cup”. The runners weren’t forgotten, either, as their race rugs included the MGGRC logo and their names.
Recently appointed Greyhound Racing SA CEO, Brenton Scott, best summed up the day from a club point of view.
“On behalf of the GRSA chairman Grantley Stevens, director David Lewis and the management representatives of GRSA in attendance, I congratulate the committee, management, employees and volunteers of the MGGRC in relation to the promotion and presentation of the Mount Gambier Cup.
“It was truly a pleasure to attend the race meeting and to be part of what was genuinely a community celebration point. The effort, energy and care factor shown by those involved in the planning and execution of the event was obviously at the core of its success.
“GRSA is extremely keen to work with its club network to optimise outcomes in the interface between our sport and the general community. It is very clear that, in the case of Mount Gambier, a very high performance standard is already in place.”