Murray Bridge Wrap Up - Sunday 20/9
On what looked to be a pleasant evening, we were in store for 11 races with all sorts of grades.....maidens, juveniles, grade 4, 5 and 6 plus an open race....... and we would have got away with it without incident too, if it wasn’t for the pesky weather!
There was only one maiden on and the dog that went from hopeful to successful was Flying Clarice. There’s a really nice back story to this dog and we’ll cover that in the near future. It was only her second start and followed her second place with a solid win.
Race 2 was a juvenile and the Nathan Wilson train Black Baccara was successful. I asked Nathan about the name this girl has. It turns out as a pup the Wilson kids called her Rosie – Black Baccara is the common name for one of the darkest Australian Roses..... ingenious!
Gold Flyer, having her third local start, took out the Daish Irrigation & Fodder Stake over the 395m. She won in emphatic style by 8¼ lengths and went the fastest of the night in 22:18.
The fourth was the Grade 6 Final with heats run last Sunday night. Both heat winners, See You Smile and Mamore, were sent out as favourites with See You Smile eventually starting the one to beat. Mamore, along with the reserve runner Euro Fabio, skipped away but it was the home turn that proved critical again. The two leaders drifted wide and See You Smile got the holeshot and went bang! She knuckled down up the straight and was an impressive winner.
Race 5 stepped up to the 455m and it was the big white and brindle boy, Sentinel Maclaren, that proved too good. His start wasn’t brilliant, but when he got going he was off and gone. He railed hard and from there his first 455m win was in the bag. To make it even better, Tania’s young bloke – Cooper was there to cheer him over the line!
Race 6 was due to go and then an absolute monster of a storm rolled thru. It had been threatening for a while and when it finally arrived it really unleashed. It was wet, windy, thundery and generally just putrid but it was worse for Paul Rehmann – old Doc, Gemtree Dynamo doesn’t like people in numbers so they’ve both braved the elements to keep Doc happy.
All races were pushed back and eventually got going again, but before they did the meat tray was raffled. It seems having a 29:29 dog isn’t good enough and Lauren won that too!! Bugger me!!
The break didn’t bother Danyo’s Gretta who backed up her impressive Angle Park win with a solid all the way win over the 455. Lauren won this race too!! Gretta is a dog on the improve and one to watch..... her last three races have been at different distances at different tracks and she’s gone PB’s in each of them.
Races 7 and 8 were heats for the SA Country Cup. These heats are run in conjunction with the other “country tracks” of Gawler and Mount Gambier. The first heat was won by Allinga Ollie and the second by Oakvale Elite. Both these dogs have booked a spot in the SA Country Cup final which will be run on Adelaide Cup night. A great thrill for all connections!
Race 9 was a grade 6 over the 395 and Ray Murray rugged up Eclipse Star. He was having his third SA start after two wins at Gawler. He jumped well but the home bend saw him come a bit unstuck with a big drift out wide. He regained his composure up the straight and proved he has a big motor running away in the end and made it three on the trot.
Race 10 was the closest race of the night with only the 5 runners having a crack. Ultimately He’s All ours won, giving Lisa Rasmussen a double, but there was only 3 lengths from first to last and it and Gemtree Ablaze who finished at the tail went 22:46 – that would have won a few of the 395 m races last week!
The final was taken out buy the Board/Spring combo and it was a race run to the script. Spring Halo was sent out favourite and he just went about it in very business like fashion. He stopped the clock in 22:33 on a rain affected track so he might be one to black book too!
Anyway, that was Murray Bridge for the 20th of September 2020 and that was my story!
Photo: Danyo's Gretta