For Rochester training team, Darren Petersen and Aroha Hemingway, the 11-hour round trip to race at last Thursday’s Mount Gambier time-graded meeting turned out to be worthwhile.
Both trainers landed their first winners at the local track after Rocket Ralph and Phantom Patch scored smart wins over 305 metres and 400 metres respectively in best of day times.
In fact, they also provided the quinella in both races.
Rocket Ralph, a son of Spring Gun and Daisy Maree, led all the way in the Trackside Pet Meats Pick 6 TG1-4W Stake for Petersen when defeating Hemingway’s Spring Flame by 6¾ lengths in 17.52 seconds.
The Hemingway-trained Phantom Patch also led all the way in the Produce Store TG5+W Stake, scoring a five length win over Petersen’s Rocky Horror in 22.88 seconds.
The 47-year-old Petersen, involved with greyhounds since he was 14, and Hemingway, licenced for only six months, currently have 24 in work.
“We race only giveaway greyhounds – Rocket Ralph coming from Murray Bridge while Phantom Patch, a son of Walk Hard and Avatar Minty, was previously at Horsham,” Petersen said.
“Phantom Patch has now been with us since July and until recently we had not won a race with him so the plan had been to advertise him as a giveaway. But then he came out and won at Bendigo and Mount Gambier.
“I reckon we’ll hang onto him now.”
Petersen and Hemingway then made the trip back to Mount Gambier for Sunday’s meeting.
No winners but a couple of handy seconds with Buildin’ Rolls and Crackerjack Pop.
Meanwhile, with the fastest eight runners from the two Fast Forward heats last Thursday advancing to this week’s Category 2 prize money final there was not too much separating the majority of runners when it came to overall times.
In the first heat, the Carlin & Gazzard TG1-4W Stake, the Parwan-based pair of Cawbourne Sunny and Cawbourne Baxter fought out the 512 metre event for Lew and Julie Green.
By Cosmic Rumble out of Cawbourne Liz, Cawbourne Sunny made it two wins in succession when finishing strongly and running down his kennelmate to win by a length in 30.38 seconds.
Then, in the second heat, Rocket Ralph’s litter brother Pat The Rat, trained at Allendale East by David Peckham, took over the running from early leader Yadillah Son off the back before running out a 2½ length winner over Moonlight Jack in 30.41 seconds.
The SA Country Cup finalists have now been sorted out with heat winners from Gawler and Murray Bridge and first and second from Mount Gambier’s heat set to clash at Angle Park on Adelaide Cup night on Friday, October 6.
Representing Gawler will be the Ben Rawlings trained Doonan and Universal Value, trained by Mike Wittholz.
Local greyhound Federal Command, trained by David Peckham, will represent Murray Bridge as will Lauren Harris’ Kia Ora Lad.
At Tara Raceway on Sunday afternoon Whiskey Chaser and Spartan Brave fought out the Mount Gambier final for Tracie Price of Compton and Lachlan Mill of Tintinara.
The five-dog race turned out to be a real two-dog war with Whiskey Chaser, a son of Whiskey Riot and Swift Timing, grabbing the win by a neck in 29.76 seconds.
Price will be chasing his second SA Country Cup after the event was reintroduced in 2013 at Gawler and he was successful with the Allan Holmes owned Moorak Hope.
And Price wrapped up Sunday’s Murray Bridge meeting on a high when Cashed Up Johnny went straight to the front from box eight and made a real mess of the opposition in the 395 metre grade five event.
