Victa Grosso breaks another track record!
Wednesday
The Wednesday meeting at Gawler kicked off with a huge winner (literally), as the 42kg Yarramundi Garth (Dyna Double One x Victa Polly) produced a strong performance to come from midfield and run down the leader in 23.46, breaking his maiden. It was his 12th start so it has taken a little while to win his maiden, but it was a very solid effort from the big boy. Hopefully he can win a couple more now!
Graeme Stirling had a terrific day on Wednesday when he was able to land a race to race double. Dashing Kara (My Redeemer x Dashing Dee Dee) was the first, winning her maiden from box four. She showed good early pace but had to sit outside the leader the entire trip, before powering away quite nicely late. Emerley Skinner was the next winner who continued her handy form, with a smart victory from box two. She jumped well but had to work hard to hold her spot, before railing underneath the leader up the back straight and sailing away. Well done Graeme!
The most impressive winner of the day was Cosmic Kid, who was sensational, showing a real return to form. He drew poorly in box seven, and after only leaving the boxes fairly, he had to show some navigational skills to weave a clear passage. Approaching the home turn, he was making good ground and before long, he had shot clear and put a space on the others. The end result was a 5 length victory in a BOD 22.89. He’s heading towards masters age, but if he maintains form like this then he will be winning plenty more.
Friday
In what will turn out to be quite a memorable Gawler meeting for a few, Wayne Burge scored his first winner since rejoining the training ranks, with Bold Onyx breaking through at his fourth run for Wayne. He was previously trained by Vadim Roz and had shown some ability, and then on Friday he was able to put things together and win quite nicely. He only jumped fairly, but was able to muster and rail well, before catching the leader around the home and putting the race away in 22.96. Well done to Wayne and hopefully he can have some fun with Bold Onyx.
We had to wait til the last race to see the performance of the afternoon, but it was certainly worth the wait with Victa Grosso breaking the longstanding 531m track record. Gawler has seen plenty of good dogs come through and been unable to break the record, but when Victa Grosso landed on the arm, he was always going to give it a shake. He led the race very comfortably and clocked a 3.25-15.79 split to the back, but it was his run home that was simply enormous which allowed him to stop the clock at 30.22! Victa Grosso also broke the Mount Gambier track record just five days prior to Friday’s effort. Their wouldn't be many dogs in the country going better than Victa Grosso, and in this form he simply won’t be losing anytime soon.
Whilst Hoogley has certainly shown some good ability in recent times, his effort on Sunday was a career best over the 400m journey. Coming out from box five, he nailed the start and jumped straight on the lure. He had to deal with a small challenge mid race, but as he went around the home turn he clicked into overdrive, flying away and running a hot 22.53. That was arguably a career best effort from the black chaser, who is now approaching 3 years old.
A terrific week at Gawler!
