Stress The Point Wins the Waterloo Cup
GOBTA held their annual Waterloo Cup meeting at the Virginia Coursing Complex on Sunday Morning. The race morning featured the running of the GOBTA Derby and Oaks along the running of the 2021 Waterloo Cup. Nominations were strong for the event and there was a healthy crowd on course. The club were greeted with a perfect sunny morning weather wise, and the first round of the Waterloo Cup kicked off at 9:00.
Greyhounds were eliminated as each round progressed. The 2021 Waterloo Cup managed to attract a field of eleven runners which allowed for three rounds of events. The Steven Coates trained Mepunga Harry was eliminated in the first round which came as a shock to many since he had been one of the most consistent greyhounds at coursing all year. Stress The Point for Nicole Price qualified for the final and would compete against Archie Vella trained by Steve Coates. Sunday was only Stress The Point’s second visit to the track and he progressed through each round really nicely. He defeated Archie Vella by three lengths in the final and he ran a time of 15.36. Nicole was obviously thrilled with the win since Stress The Point had only had his first look at the track a few weeks prior. He is a very talented greyhound who has shown plenty of ability over the first eleven months of his career.
The 2021 GOTBA Oaks attracted a field of ten runners which allowed for three rounds to be run. Zipping Sheba made the final for trainer Bec Romyn and would compete up against Porsha for trainer Tina Cattermole. Zipping Sheba showed plenty of closing strength down to the straight to take out the final by four lengths. She ran a time of 15.65 in the process. Zipping Sheba is owned by Cameron Forshaw who is a regular volunteer at Virginia Coursing. He helps the club out with numerous jobs on race days and he was visibly ecstatic when his greyhound took out the Oaks Final.
The 2021 GOTBA derby attracted a field of 8 runners which allowed for two rounds to be run. Bec Romyn managed to get her second runner in a final. She had Two Jabs in the final against Vinnie Rumbling for Rolland Parry. Vinnie Rumbling has been doing a majority of his racing at the Murray Bridge straight track which really helped him progress throughout the morning. He was too good in the final. He defeated a gallant Two Jabs by two lengths and ran a time of 15.33 which was the quickest time out of all the finals. Both Rolland Parry and Bec Romyn are strong supporters of Virginia coursing when it comes to nominating their greyhounds throughout the year. It was great to see both trainers rewarded with finals victories on the day.
GOBTA will wrap up there coursing on Sunday the 10th of October with their final meeting of the year scheduled for that date. Virginia coursing really symbolises what Greyhound Racing is all about. It provides us with a real community atmosphere and the meetings are run by mostly volunteers. All volunteers work extremely hard with people working in the Catching Pen, Canteen, Judges Box, Lure Driving and many more jobs. All the volunteers deserve a strong amount of credit for helping to provide this service to the industry.
Photo: Nicole Price proud as punch with her winning dog, Stress The Point
Credit: Kurt Donsberg Photography