Decision pays off - Gawler

29/09/2014
Racing News


An owner who also trains on an occasional basis, has achieved recent success since taking over the training duties of his greyhound. At Gawler greyhounds on Tuesday, the owner scored a strong win in the Dinky Di Web Designs Stake over 400m.

In a tightly contested start, Dyna Wedi from box 2 and Horizon Gold (5) vied for the lead with All Black Jack (4) and Marita (3) just behind. Some bumping saw Marita drop out sharply and All Black Jack forced his way through a gap between Dyna Wedi and Horizon Gold.

All Black Jack darted away to open up a 3 length break over his rivals and was left untouched in front to go on and score convincingly by 6 lengths in the time of 22.83 secs. Dyna Wedi ran second for Wendy Matcott of Murray Bridge, while Horizon Gold finished in third place for Kelvin Douglas of Strathalbyn.

All Black Jack is a two year old black dog, trained and owned by Ron Murch of Pennington. Ron bought “Jack” as a pup, sight unseen over the internet in Melbourne. The greyhound remained there for it’s early racing, where he won 1 race, but the trainer decided he wasn’t up to Melbourne standard, so he was sent to Ron in Adelaide.

Ron has been involved in greyhounds for some 30 years, and as he had some success as an “on and off” trainer, he decided to take on the role. The decision to take on the training has proven to be a sound one, as Jack has blossomed under Ron’s care. Jack has not missed a cheque in his 8 starts, racking up 4 wins and 4 placings. However it has not been all plain sailing, as Jack had a six month rest while he recovered from a muscle injury.

Ron enjoys the greyhound sport from several aspects. He is recently retired from full time work, so it is a great interest and because he is also a football field umpire, the training helps him keep fit for that as well. Ron described Jack as a nice natured and good kennel dog, and with his current racing record, there is no reason why he shouldn’t continue to score a few more goals.

Jarrad Murray was the only trainer to score a double when Proven Juddy led all the way in good time over 531m, and Cosmic Wild won a 400m race in another good time of 22.50 secs. Jarrad’s brother Troy was also in the winner’s circle with Kalden Kostello.

The Gawler track hosts races on every Tuesday afternoon and Sunday twilight, but there will also be a special night meeting on Thursday 9th October.