Tappet hunting Gawler Produce success
Tappet Searching For His Maiden Win In Produce Semi
Five heats will become two semi finals of the Gawler Produce this Sunday night, as we enter week two of the Group 3 series.
It was an excellent afternoon of racing last Friday, with some quality racing on show. The five heat winners for the Gawler Produce were Zinfandel Evie (30.98), Blossom Michelle (30.91), Majestic Mclaren (30.56), Pet Detective (31.22) and Fast Headache (31.01).
The two semi finals appear very strong on Sunday, with all of the major fancies for the series making their way through to the second round. Both semi finals will be hotly contested, with chasers needing to run top four in order to qualify for the final next week, which will carry a prize money of $22,000.
In one of the unique features of this series, maiden chasers are allowed to compete and we will see one maiden chaser line up in the semi finals, with Tappet looking to break through at what will be his sixth start. Despite only having a short career to date, he has shown excellent ability, running second or third at all of five starts so far.
Trained by Patrick Bouchier and his wife Patricia, who are based in Dennington in Victoria, which is just out of Warrnambool, it has been a big journey so far for them with Tappet, having made a few long trips to have Tappet involved in some feature races. Whilst he clearly has ability and is quickly learning as he goes, it wasn’t always clear cut with Tappet after he arrived in kennels, having not shown much early days.
“He came to me as a pre-trainer and he broke in very ordinary, I'm honest about that. We identified what was wrong with him and we got him going. That first start at Mount Gambier was his the first time he had been in a field and then he went into the Howard Ashton as a very green pup, he’s learning to race.” said (Patrick) Bouchier
It was a good effort from Tappet in his heat, after drawing a box eight in a strong race. He was a bit slow to go, but handled himself well from the draw and settled in second behind Zinfandel Evie. After giving her four lengths up the back straight, he made a real good fist of running her down, eventually getting within a length of her at the finish line. That effort was really pleasing for Bouchier, who also made the extra effort to trial him at the track before the heat.
“I was very happy with the run, he was just beaten by a better dog. We did trial him once. We travel eight hours to get there, we love our dogs.” said Bouchier.
“He’s shown ability, he’s a magnificent dog.”
Patrick and Bouchier run a small kennel and enjoy pre-training dogs, but their has been some planning in preparation for this series, to ensure that they can get there. It’s a big effort to drive from Dennington and it’s one that the couple make together, ensuring that they are giving the best possible care to their chaser during the trip.
“We travel together, I’ve only got one other dog in work at the moment. We emptied the kennels out for this. We leave atleast eight hours before we kennel. He’s got a beautiful temperament and the thing that I worry about is his weight, eight hours in the car is a long time so you’ve got to keep the fluids up. He’s weighed the night before and he's weighed before we leave, it’s a relief when I get him through the scales to be honest!” said Bouchier
Sunday will be the first time that Tappet has drawn an inside draw, having come up with box two, which Bouchier is pleased about. In saying this, he also has the hard railing, quick beginning, Zinfandel Evie drawn outside of him, which could present an issue. Bouchier is hoping that Tappet can have some early luck and avoid trouble, as he attempts to make his way through to the final.
“I’ve been looking for an inside box from his first start. I am not sure how he will handle it because he is 37.3kg, he’s a big dog. Zinfandel Evie is right beside me so he’s got to step and stay out of trouble to the first corner.” said Bouchier
“We’re in there and we’ve got a chance, we weren't far away the other day so we’re hoping to improve. He’s improving all the time.”
Best Bets:
Ascend (Race 2, Number 4)
Xile Bale (Race 5, Number 2)