Not Much Between Them
At Gawler greyhounds on Tuesday. a litter brother and sister went down to the wire to sort out the winner.
In the Bunyip Open Maiden over 400m, Jack And Lolli led the field from box 1, from One Last Chance (2) and Delinquincy (3). Shortly after, box 7 dog, Nippa Norris charged around the field quickly on the outside to draw level with Jack And Lolli, with the two of them clearing out by 3 lengths.
They had a neck and neck tussle to the line, with Locust Fund (6) coming out of the clouds to mount a late challenge. However Nippa Norris on the outside wore down the leader and got to the front when it counted, to score by just a neck in 23.21 secs. Jack And Lolli ran second while Locust Fund was third for trainer John Hancock of Nuriootpa.
Both the winner and second placed runner are trained by Todd Kelly of Middle Beach. Todd not only trains the pair, but also bred the Knocka Norris out of Trumps litter, of which these two are members. The two greyhounds have only had 6 starts between them, so there is every reason to be optimistic about their future chances.
Todd has been a trainer for some 30 years and currently has 8 greyhounds in work. He had a short break for a while, but has been back in the game for about 3 years, saying that he had an optimistic view of the future of the industry. He said that he enjoys working with the animals, which is what keeps him interested in the sport, and it helps to have the great support from his mother Rae. Todd also enjoyed success four races later, when Fiery McBain scored a convincing win in the time of 22.81 secs.
Todd was not only the trainer to enjoy multiple successes on race day. Leading trainer Shaun Matcott headed the list with 3 runners with Lektra Joker, Playing It Cool and Valarie Allen saluting the judge. John Mundy continued his good strike rate at the track, leading in the successful pair All My Size and Brahma Boy.
Racing continues every Tuesday afternoon, with a Sunday twilight on 21st July and the next Friday afternoon meeting being on the 26th.