Gawler Racing Review
One of the great race series on the calendar for younger greyhounds in SA, got underway at Gawler on Friday afternoon. That series is the Gawler Produce, a paid up event which is one of those time honoured races that everyone strives to win, somewhere in their racing career.
Starting off with four Heats on Friday, this then moves to two Semi-finals on Sunday 11 July, with the deciding Final being run on Sunday 18th. To advance to the Semi-finals, the first four runners in each Heat then qualify for the next stage. Sounds straightforward but on Friday there was a small hitch to that process.
The first Heat was won by Spring Driven, the sole interstate runner nominated for the Series, and will be joined by Victa Grosso, Crazy Diva and Dunkel. Heat two was taken out by Victa Kurt, which narrowly defeated Fantastic Victor by just a neck margin, with Victa Emma and Victa Hadyn also qualifying.
In the third Heat, Victa Reid ran the fastest time of the contenders, and also won by the biggest margin of 5 ¼ lengths, in defeating Victa Mikey, Spring Lilac, Gemtree Maximus and Far More Crazy. What made this Heat unusual was that Gemtree Maximus and Far More Crazy ran exactly the same time, which the judge could not separate. Unfortunately, as only four runners can be selected, a solution will have to be found, which may result in a ballot.
The fourth and final Heat saw Jack’s Well win with a handy five length margin, in a time of 30.89 secs, from Kelly’s Missile, Victa Daryl and Victa Maggie.
If you have noticed a number of greyhounds with the “Victa” prefix included in the runners, you are not seeing double. Of the nine greyhounds from the Fernando Bale by Victa Victoria litter entered in the Series, eight of them have qualified to run in next week’s Semis, so with those numbers engaged, there is every chance that many will make their way through to the Final.
It is a busy racing schedule at Gawler this week, with racing on Friday afternoon, an extra meeting early on Saturday morning, Sunday night and Tuesday afternoon. Catering is available at each meeting, and if you are looking to have a meal on our popular Sunday night, please book with the Club on 8522 2935. Don’t forget the Final of the Produce on Sunday 18th July, which will also feature the celebration of 50 years of racing at Gawler.
Photo: The start of the the Gawler Produce Heats, with the eventual winner, Spring Driven, coming from box 7 (Kurt Donsberg Photography)