Glencoe greyhound trainer Dean Fennell still remembers those early Covid days and the struggle the Mount Gambier Greyhound Racing Club had in filling its fields for what was at the time once a week race meetings.
“That was back when the club had put out a call to Victorian trainers to see if any were interested in placing greyhounds with local trainers due to the cross-border complications,” he said.
“Peter Byrne of Koroit was more than willing to help out and kicked off with one of his ‘Saint’ dogs – Saint Maddie, an unraced daughter of Peter Rocket and Miss Lava.
“And she went on to win 10 races at Mount Gambier over 400 metres, 512 metres and 600 metres before being retired and whelping a litter of five dogs and five bitches by Bernardo in March 2022.”
To this day, Fennell is still training “Saint” dogs for Byrne – the latest being Saint Milly, by Aston Kimetto and a half-sister to Saint Maddie.
“She came over in March after having won a maiden at Warrnambool.
“And I thought she looked quite good last Thursday when winning the Ary Sports Bar & Bistro 1-4W Stake (400 m) in 23.25 seconds.”
Making the trip down from Langhorne Creek was Tony Hinrichsen who was rewarded with a training double when On The Northerns and Barefoot Rebel were successful.
With a record of 11 starts for three placings, On The Northerns created quite an impression in the Produce Store Maiden Stake (400 m) when running out a 10¾ length winner over kennelmate Phantom Fury in 23.24 seconds.
Actually, Hinrichsen held a pretty strong hand in the event given that he had four of the six runners – Phantom Fury, Full On Fury and Filthy Fury all first starters by Filthy Phantom out of Rusty Fury.
Filthy Phantom, the Australian record holder for the most number of race starts – 344 – continues to compete and was unplaced later in the day.
And with Rusty Fury racing on 124 occasions, one could probably expect some degree of longevity in these Fury pups.
Hinrichsen’s second winner was with Barefoot Rebel, the son of My Bro Fabio x Tarks Black Rose having a great battle with Travelling Sands before running out a three-quarter length winner in 23.70 seconds.
The five-year-old Travelling Sands, is trained at Manor Lakes by Matt Basto who was successful at Tara Raceway back on Thursday, January 2, 2020 with Sky Show in a maiden over 400 metres in 23.61 seconds.
Leading Mount Gambier trainer Tracie Price dominated the Thursday Fast Forwards for the month, first with Honey Rocks in the 400 metre series and then last Thursday with Compton Chloe in the Bartholomew Pick 6 Fast Forward final (512 m).
The daughter of Paddy Whacker and Miss Freelove, after a slow start from box seven, powered home along the rails to defeat Yadillah Lad by four lengths in 30.09 seconds.
Integrity and Welfare leader appointed
Greyhound Racing SA (GRSA) has appointed Kelly Rourke to the newly-created position of General Manager, Integrity and Welfare.
Ms Rourke has extensive management experience at an executive level, most recently as the SA State Manager for the National Rugby League (NRL).
She is Chair of the Sport SA Women’s Sports Academy Working Group and maintains a passion for sport, having previously played rugby league for England and worked as a player, coach and manager across several codes.
Before her time with the NRL, Ms Rourke held senior roles with both Tabcorp and Greyhound Racing NSW, as well as with the police force in Australia and the UK where she enjoyed a highly successful and decorated career spanning 15 years.
GRSA CEO Bodelle Francis said the industry would benefit immensely from Ms Rourke’s expertise.
“We are thrilled to be appointing someone of Kelly’s calibre to this important position,” Francis said.
“GRSA takes its commitment to welfare and integrity incredibly seriously, and the creation of this new role is a testament to that.”
