Heats of the Howard Ashton Group 3 Classic Event
There was another interesting night of greyhound racing at Gawler on Sunday, which included the running of the Heats of the Howard Ashton Group 3 Classic Event.
Normally run at racing headquarters at Angle Park, the race is being conducted at Gawler due to the major track works being undertaken at that track. The Series is over the 531m journey and is being run with Heats and Semi-finals, which lead up to a Final of $37,500 on the 13th June. To be eligible to compete, greyhounds had to be bred in SA in the first six months of 2019 and paid up for the Classic Series.
The first winner of the Heats was Boombox Hammer, which was able to lead from shortly after the start, winning by just over two lengths. In running a very fast 30.69 secs, this was to be the fastest time recorded in the Heats. Boombox Hammer is trained by Petar Jovanovic of Lewiston, and Victa Grosso ran second for Tony Rasmussen of Murray Bridge.
The second Heat saw the recent winner of the SA Anniversary Cup, Jack’s Well, step out again and claim another win for Cameron Butcher of Meningie. Jack’s Well has shown great form at Gawler in recent starts, having won now won three in a row, and won by a convincing margin of 8 lengths from Victa Daryl, for Lisa Rasmussen of Murray Bridge.
Heat three saw Cameron Butcher feature again, but this time as a part-owner, when the Bosko Stamenkovic trained Fire Strike was able to lead all the way and win by 1 ¼ lengths, over Victa Hadyn, trained by Tony Rasmussen.
After providing the runners up in the previous Heats, the final Heat saw the Rasmussen team strike back, with Lisa Rasmussen training the winner, Victa Reid. Second was Dashing Wilma, who with only one previous race start was the least race experienced in the Heats, put in a creditable performance to run second for Gavin Harris of McLaren Vale.
The first four runners in each Heat are now eligible to go through to the Semi-finals next Sunday, in what should be some excellent racing. Tony and Lisa Rasmussen are likely to play a big part in the Heats, as they have nine runners between them, but as was seen last night, there are plenty of chances.
Credit: Kurt Donsberg Photography
Racing at Gawler for this week is Friday afternoon, 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.