Destini Spitfire Rewarded For Brilliant Consistency
Tuesday (Straight track)
Tina Cattermole kicked off the Tuesday card with her black bitch Tannah’s Express (Spring Gun x Zinnia Monelli) finally breaking her maiden after some consistent runs previously. From box five, she was given a small chance in the market with a couple of other well backed chasers in the race. When the boxes opened, she sprung out beautifully and found herself a clear leader. Towards the finish line she had moved herself to rail with a fast finishing Elegant Rosie rapidly approaching. Tannah’s Express did enough and just held on to win by less than a length in 17.06. A rewarding win and if she can maintain those box manners then their will be a few more.
Tony Rasmussen had a good day with two ripping victories from a couple of his better class chasers. Victa Marli has been electric recently and ventured to the straight for her first attempt at the track. From box six she was going to have to be good, and that she was. She didn’t jump as well as she normally does, but mustered brilliantly to work her way to the front rather easily. From there it was just a procession, as she bounded away and won in a BOD 16.62 by a widening three lengths. Tony then won the next race with the returning Queen Of Scotch who was first up after a relatively serious shoulder injury. She had box one in a strong grade field. After leaving the boxes well, she shifted up the track but held the lead. Her class shone through after that, as she powered away and put a space between her and the others, before winning in a quick 16.70. That was an excellent return and hopefully we can see her back tackling bigger races because she has a lot of promise.
Their was a couple of solid plunges during the meeting on Tuesday and one of those was for Grab The Pizzas who was first up for a few months. After opening double figures the night before, that was long gone by time she lined up in the eleventh race of the day. From box eight, she left the boxes cleanly and found an early lead with a good battle behind. Midrace, the small black bitch copped a check and was dragged down, but to her credit she was able to pick herself up and keep going. She just did enough to win and land the plunge, winning in a handy 16.97.
Dog to follow:
My Place Friday - The Graham Smith trained fawn bitch has been in really good form without being able to get on the winners list, but on Tuesday she was able to put it all together in really good fashion. From box five over the 350m trip, she came okay but then copped a fairly solid bump early. After straightening up again, she clicked through the gears before taking over midrace and running away. She ran 19.31 in the process but it was a top effort given her early trouble.
Sunday (1-Turn)
Me Same You kicked off the strong Sunday afternoon program, with another excellent win over the 680m trip. From box three he was only fairly away and facing a few tails running into the first turn, but thanks to some brilliant rack sense, he was able to rail through, before working to the front up the back. After finding the front, the black dog spaced the field, running away for a massive seven length win in a very solid 39.46. He just loves the place this dog. Trainer Lauren Harris made it two winners for the night when Orejitas broke through for a super deserving victory. After some honest and consistent runs previously, he drew box one and was always going to be hard to beat. He led the field after the boxes opened, finding a small lead towards the turn. A bit of luck behind saw him maintain the lead around the turn. When they hit the straight, the challengers were coming but Orejitas was just too good and too hard to run down, winning in a BON 29.86.
Whilst running second and third can be frustrating, it is something that trainer Sharyn Gray had gotten used to with her chaser Destini Spitfire. Going into last night, she had run six placings in a row, so she was definitely due to break through for another victory. After drawing box eight it wasn’t going to be easy, but thanks to a nice beginning and some field smarts, the fawn bitch got herself in front around the turn. She travelled sweetly thereafter, running away for a five length win in 22.48, which was quite solid considering the head wind that the chasers were running into. Since August, Desitini Spitfire has missed a place once and has won four races, some brilliant consistency!
We had to wait until the last of the night for the most impressive run of the night, with Razzle Darryl taking out the open class race over the 395m trip. After some good runs, he found himself back over the short trip, but had box eight to deal with. He jumped well but was outpaced by a couple of others down low, so he was forced to sit three deep as they hit the turn, which is a tricky place to be! He dealt with that rather easily however, as he moved within a length of the leader hitting the straight. His strength proved telling as he powered over the top to land the BON 22.29 win. He’s been terrific for Paul Rehmann and the win last night would have meant a lot to his owner Bec Weinert. A terrific win all up!
Dog to follow:
Cawbourne Neo - Had his first SA start on Sunday off some fair country NSW form. Coming out of box six he was only fairly away and in a bit of traffic. Whilst he showed some handy track sense to get past some runners, he also showed some real grit, barging through a gap on the rail on the turn which is never easy to do. Beaten by a few lengths in the end, but it was a good first up run and I would expect that he will find a suitable race in the next couple of weeks.