The Perfect Run Continues
On Sunday night at Gawler greyhounds there were two feature races on the card, with the main event being the classic Produce series. This is a paid up series for age restricted greyhounds, which requires an initial payment some 8 months before the event, so owners who nominate take a risk but the potential reward is great.
Despite the series being affected by withdrawal of greyhounds due to a current kennel cough problem, a crackerjack field for the Final was assembled. Local greyhound Avid Tyson (4) was able to lead into the first turn from High Status (2) and Flying Tee (7). Avid Tyson ran a little wide in the back straight, allowing Flying Tee to rail through to take the lead. Fire Tyson (8) followed closely, overtaking High Status in the home straight. Flying Tee went on to win impressively by 4 lengths in the time of 30.53 secs.
Fire Tyson continued it’s consistent form at Gawler to run second for Tony Lagana of Gawler River and High Status ran third.
The winner and High Status are both trained by Ossie Chegia of Aldinga for owner Barry Stewart. The two greyhounds are also from the same litter, which Barry bred. Flying Tee, which was sent out the public favourite, did not let his supporters down, making his perfect record 5 wins from 5 starts over 531m at Gawler. That record also saw “Nudge” take out the recent Gawler Classic, so he is enjoying a purple patch at the track.
Barry was elated with the win, as although he has won many feature events over the years, and despite paying up for many previous nominations for the Produce, a win in the series had eluded him. While enjoying the moment, Barry said he was sorry for those runners that missed out participating, due to kennel cough. One young man, Barry’s grandson Caleb Kerr was excited by the win, as he had picked out Nudge as being the best of the litter, while still a pup.
The other feature event on the program was the Anniversary Cup, which was won in great style by all the way winner, Hope’s Up. Trained by Cameron Butcher at Meningie, the blue and white bitch has developed a liking for the Gawler circuit, winning 8 and being placed 5 times from 15 starts.
Racing continues Tuesday afternoons, with the next Friday meeting being on 12th July and a Sunday twilight on 21 July.