Evie Jean The Quickest Qualifier in Golden Maiden Heats
Wednesday
One of the feature races from the Wednesday card at Gawler was the 400m maiden final, which brought together a pretty handy field. It was an interesting race on paper after three heats last week and it proved to be a really good race. From the boxes it was Chilli On Ice who glided over from the outside and had her head in front early. It was rather competitive up the back straight but approaching the turn, the Brenda Oakey trained Fizzy Crest (El Grand Senor x Fizzy Bale) showed some serious heart and commitment to push through and challenge for the lead.The red fawn bitch kept driving around the turn and in the straight was good enough to run away for an excellent victory. The time was 23.03 and considering the work she did, it was impressive, I think she has a future!
Bec Mcauley-Fry hasn’t got a big team of chasers but she has got one of her chasers going particularly well at the moment and that is Kanga Lights, who was rewarded for some consistent form with a cracking win. Surprisingly he wasn’t given much hope in the market despite finishing a few lengths off Mr. Ticket the week prior. He drew box one this week over the short trip and after the boxes opened he found himself on the backfoot a touch. It was a hot go to the turn, but Kanga Lights was able to just do enough to hold the outside dogs out early. His work wasn’t done yet, as he had to fight the entire back straight to hold his position on the rail and he did, before getting some luck on the turn and running away. The end result was a 23.19 victory, but the time certainly did not do the effort justice!
Lester Harris has got his kennel going quite nicely at the moment and he picked up another winner with All About making the most of box one over the 400m journey. It’s fair to say that the black bitch had been struggling a bit in her previous starts, but you wouldn’t know it as she went like a ripper to win in good time. Her early speed saw her find a quick lead from box one and after travelling so well, she stopped the clock at 22.89 and won by five lengths, with the time being a personal best for the black bitch.
Sunday
Heats of the Golden Maiden series were the showcase on Sunday, with three heats being run for the $10,000 final to be held next week. As is the case with the series every year, we see a lot of promising pups show their stuff and every year this race throws up a nice dog. The quickest of the three heats went the way of the Colin Swain trained Evie Jean, who was having her first start for Colin after a couple of okay Victorian starts. She was kept safe in the event and after the boxes opened she showed plenty of early speed, allowing her to find the front from box seven. Once in front, she quickly put a space on the field as they went up the back and looked to be travelling well. She wasn’t stopping for anyone as she went all the way and ran a very handy 31.17, to win by three lengths. The other two heat winners were Going Undercover who is trained by Tony Rasmussen and Ben Rawlings trained Pockets Watson. It will most certainly be a great final next week!
Micheal Stewart has got his team up and about and landed a double on Sunday. Go Go Snow is improving every start and landed a great win from box seven over the 400m trip. She has started her career only fairly but her last few starts have been rippers. She jumped well from the wide draw and showed great pace, running 8.57 early which is electric and set up a nice lead. She led by four lengths as they went into the and despite getting tired, she held on and won in a red hot 22.77. Jessore then continued his good form, winning over the 531m journey. He was in the fast class race of the night and despite the poor draw in box six, he offset it quite easily with a slick beginning. Once in front, he never looked like getting run down and went really well the entire journey, winning in a fast 30.78. A great night for Micheal and you can follow these two chasers with a bit of confidence.
Ravers Army had his third start since joining the care of Tim Aloisi, drawing box one for the 643m trip. From the good draw he rightfully started a warm favourite and when he jumped to a quick lead, the punters would have been quietly happy with themselves. Ravers Army was doing it nicely and despite having a midrace challenge, he kept kicking and proved far too good for the others, winning in a sizzling 37.43, which is a fantastic run!