Double trouble for Troy Murray and Tony Rasmussen
A lot can change in a day when there is a COVID 19 outbreak, as we have discovered in the last week. After having a great night at Gawler last Sunday which featured the celebration of 50 years of racing there, and running the Gawler Produce Final, additional restrictions started ay the next meeting on the Tuesday, and by Wednesday, all three racing codes had their meetings cancelled on the Wednesday.
After the codes agreed to re-introduce tougher restrictions, which included no patrons on course, and following stricter protocols, racing at Gawler got underway again on Friday afternoon.
Two trainers went home after scoring a double on the day, with Troy Murray being the first XXX in race 2, a Maiden event over the 400m trip which saw Rapid Wy (5), Radiant Way (7) and Escape Inn (8) all vying for the lead. Rapid Way took over the running, but then Locked (4) wended its way through the field and quickly drew on level terms with the leader, before finally drawing away in the home straight. Locked won by 2½ lengths to defeat Bow Down (2), trained at Williamstown by Peter Wilton, and Raid Way ran third for Chris Jaensch of Two Wells.
Troy’s second winner came in the next race on the program, a 400m Juvenile event. His runner, Came And Went (2) did just that, setting a good pace in front and running a good time of 22.80 secs, to claim victory by 1¾ lengths over the fast finishing Hiring (8), trained by Jack Trengrove of Two Wells and Canya Razor (5) was third for Lisa Rasmussen of Murray Bridge.
The other double was achieved by Tony Rasmussen of Murray Bridge, who landed his first winner with Maltese News, which was able to lead all the way to score from American Mustard for Scott Feltus of , and Allinga Grin (4) for Yvonne King of Langhorne Creek. His second win came via Victa Mikey, another from the dominating “Victa” litter that has brought so much success to Tony and connections, after they scooped the pool in the recent Classic and Produce series at Gawler.
Racing continues this week on Friday and Tuesday afternoon, as well as Sunday night, but unfortunately due to COVID restrictions, only essential persons only can attend, which excludes the general public. Let’s hope we get on top of this latest outbreak, so that we can welcome the public back again soon.
Photo: A masked up Connor Murray with 'Came And Went'