It was a case of keeping it in the family when litter sisters Kiwi To Burn and Princess To Burn were the quickest Fast Forward 512 metre qualifiers at last Thursday’s Tara Raceway time-graded meeting.
And just to make it a real family affair, the pair – by Fernando Bale out of the unraced Princess Kiwi -is owned by Hamilton-based Lorraine Goodwin who also trains Kiwi To Burn while son Kyle is in charge of Princess To Burn.
They drew the one and the eight in the second of the two heats and matched motors for much of the race.
Princess To Burn, having her first run over 512 metres, found the front down the back but on the line her sister had a half a length to spare in a time of 30.14 seconds.
Kiwi To Burn will be attempting to win two successive monthly Fast Forward finals after she defeated Sarah Louise in the May series.
Owned and trained at North Bendigo by Aaron Blake, Sarah Louise has also made it through to this month’s final.
Kongorong part-owner and trainer John Little has litter brothers Bungaloo Bruiser and Cricket Tragic through to the $1740 Fast Forward final which comprises the eight fastest from the two heats, irrespective of finishing positions.
By On Fire out of Springvale Alysa, Bungaloo Bruiser was always on the pace in the first heat before holding on to defeat Popcorn Miss by half a length in 30.44 seconds.
And Cricket Tragic qualified as sixth fastest when running fourth to Kiwi To Burn in 30.54 seconds.
White Hills trainer Mary Blake, who prepares Black Jester for her son Aaron, had the last laugh when the son of Aston Dee Bee and 11-race winner Lady Pandora found winning form again at Tara Raceway in the Gambier Vets Stake (600 m).
Still sporting that single blinker, Black Jester, a littermate to Sarah Louise, had been chasing his first win since January when he had been successful over 715 metres at Sandown Park.
Handled last Thursday by another of the Blake brothers in Khris, he was quickly away from box one, leading all the way and holding out David Peckham’s Warringah Bale to eventually win by a half-length in 35.25 seconds.
Bred by Joe Borg of Maryborough, Black Jester is also a litter brother to Black Viper, a winner of his past three starts at Sale and Warragul and trained for Allendale East-based Peckham by Matt Clark of Briagolong.
In the race following Black Jester was Choji Akimichi, having only his second race start for the Blakes in the Klaassens Contractors Maiden Stake (305 m).
Named after the sizeable Naruto character, the 39 kilogram black dog, whelped in September 2022, is by Feral Franky out of Lady Pandora’s second litter.
Choji Akimichi finished fourth behind Peckham’s first starter Sophie’s Beast in 18.03 seconds with Khris Blake suggesting the “big one” was a definite improver.
Edenhope trainer Cap Abbott of Cadillac Kennels brought up a running double when Argyle Kinloch was successful in the Icon Signs TG1-4W Stake (400 m) and Hot Cadillac in the Trackside Pet Meats Pick 6 TG5+W Stake (400 m).
Picked up by Abbott at the end of last year, Argyle Kinloch, a daughter of Kinloch Brae and Zita, brought up her second win at Tara Raceway in emphatic style when leading all the way and defeating Survive The Fury by 4¼ lengths in a swift 22.99 seconds.
Then at Mount Gambier’s Sunday meeting at Tara Raceway the Abbott owned and trained Mister Cadillac defeated a smart field in the Williams Crane Hire Mixed Stake (400 m).
By Magical Bale out of Koa Lass, Mister Cadillac chased Mr.
Anderson to the home turn where he took up the running before going away to 1¾ length win over the early leader in 22.94 seconds.
Mister Cadillac went into the meeting holding a one point lead over Wild Star in the Mount Gambier Greyhound of the Year award.
But after the running of the Metal Worx Mixed Stake (512 m), Wild Star led the way by three points.
However, following Mister Cadillac’s win later in the day the pair now shares the GOTY lead with 29 points each.
