Kelsey Bale Sends An Ominous Warning In Gawler Cup Heat
We had one of the better cards that we will see all year at Gawler on Monday, with heats of the Group 3 Gawler Cup and the Sprint Classic for 2022.
Karmen Kristy has only had a few runs in South Australia since joining the Steven Brook kennel, but went like a rocket in taking out the first heat of the Sprint Classic. From box four, in a particularly tough field against some quality dogs, she was able to show both pace and strength to land a big win. Patched led her early out of box three, but she was able to lob in second on his outside, the position she wanted to be in. As they hit the turn, she had put her head in front of Patched, but to his credit he fought back and took the lead again. However, around the turn Karmen Kristy loomed up again and took over, putting him away and winning in a super quick 22.44. The other two heats went the way of Taylor Toves (22.40) who was faultless in taking out his heat, before Mepunga Knight used box eight to perfection, sweeping around to the front and winning his heat in 22.58.
Six heats of the Gawler Cup were run and easily the most breathtaking performance came from the Victorian raider, in the form of Kelsey Bale, who produced an incredible run home to take out her heat. Despite having her first look at the track, a notoriously difficult track first up, she started a $1.40 favourite. After copping a small check early and finding herself in last, she looked in a fair bit of strife, however some track sense saw her find a more prominent position up the back, running fourth with a slim hope. The rest of her race was mesmerising, as she peeled wide and made up the three length deficit on the leader within a couple of strides, before booming away to win a flying 30.38. Her run was completely off the charts, getting home in 14.08 which is a new record. She will certainly be one of the favourites come Sunday night.
One of the locals that has made it through is Charlee’s Misty, who has been simply brilliant lately under the guidance of Vadim Roz. Coming out of box two, she wasn’t given much of a hope, starting a $23 roughie. With the lack of pace in the field and a brilliant beginning herself, she was able to lead initially, before being headed approaching the first turn. Charlee’s Misty didn’t get phased by that, as she stuck on the tail of the leader down the back straight. Hitting the turn, she made her move and went wide before hitting the front and running away. She stopped the clock with a strong 30.68 and with her first split, she will be able to put herself into the final on Sunday.
Spring Phoebe, trained by local trainer Ben Rawlings was the last greyhound to qualify, taking out the sixth heat of the Cup. She had box seven to deal with, but did it with complete ease. Generally she is hit and miss early, but nailed the start on Monday which allowed her to find a clear lead coming out of the first turn. From there, her strength took over, as she gapped the quality field, running away a comprehensive winner in a slick 30.59.
The other heat winners were Propelled for Tim Aloisi (30.57), Silver Stone (30.86) & Came And Went (30.37) for Ray Muray.
The final field is as follows.
- Silver Stone
- Came And Went
- Kelsey Bale
- Spring Phoebe
- Charlee’s Misty
- Propelled
- Impress Us
- Victa Reid
- Winnington Bale (1st res)
- Basil Brush Rose (2nd res)
It’s all set for a ripping edition of the Gawler Cup, with a red hot Sprint Classic to go with it!