Making a successful return to Tara Raceway last Thursday after a considerable break from racing at Mount Gambier were Kevin and Raylene Gavin of Killarney and Mathew Tabb of Lara.
The Gavin training duo had last won at the local track in May last year with Zambora Jade and Bourne Rose. And a win prior to that it had been with a greyhound called Pongo in July 2022.
Last week they lined up in the Williams Crane Hire TG1-4W Stake (305 metres) with Impress Joe who joined the three-dog kennel earlier this month before kicking off with an unplaced run over 390 metres at Warrnambool.
“To be honest, in all the time we have had greyhounds, the majority of them have always been giveaways,” Kevin Gavin said. “But in the case of Impress Joe we paid $500 for him after he had raced on nine occasions in NSW and Victoria for a win at Tamworth back in June.”
And the well-backed fawn dog never looked like losing when leading all the way from box five and defeating Eskimo Ruby by four lengths in 17.83 seconds.
Mathew Tabb, Kathryne and father Stephen were last successful at Mount Gambier in April 2022 with Levator. Prior to that Piriformis had won in 2020 and Digitorum and Capitis in 2021 – the greyhound names relating to bodily structure as per Mathew’s involvement in massage therapy.
Accompanying Mathew at last week’s meeting was daughter Belle as wife and mother Kathryne is currently in Hungary with son Zac who is competing in the World Darts Masters.
Meanwhile, back at Tara Raceway, Ulna – one of the two forearm long bones – was contesting the Greg Martlew Autos TG5+W Stake (400 m).
A winner over 390 metres at Shepparton in August, the black bitch never looked like being beaten last week when leading all the way from box two and defeating She’s Fired Up by 5¼ lengths in 23.95 seconds.
“She’s a good little chaser and generally puts herself in the race,” Mathew said. “We also bred her, as well as her mother and grandmother.”
By Aussie Infrared, Ulna is out of Temporalis, a daughter of Magic Sprite x Batwoman and a granddaughter of Premier Fantasy x Flashy Fool.
In 2020/2021, Mathew trained Tinker Craig, a son of Fernando Bale and Gawker Bale who raced on 43 occasions for 18 wins and $76,000 in prize money.
And going back to 2006, he achieved Group 1 glory as the owner of Superman, winner of the Perth Cup, the Hobart 1000 and the Group 2 Queensland Derby.
Finally, Jarrad collects his Tara Tipsters cap
It took a while, but Mount Gambier-based Jarrad Williams finally collected his yellow Tara Tipsters cap at Tara Raceway last Sunday afternoon after winning the recent Spare Ya Change 4 Kids series.
The charity-based initiative, which took in 18 race meetings on Thursdays and Sundays at the Lake Terrace East track, resulted in Williams scoring a total of 500 points and defeating Tim Aloisi of Adelaide by three points.
On track to receive a donation from the Tara Tipsters were representatives from Spare Ya Change 4 Kids, headed by Di Ind who outlined some of the wonderful work the organisation undertakes in the Limestone Coast region of SA. Joining her were Ian and Louise Wheller and Robyn
Laurenson.
Run in conjunction with the presentation was the Spare Ya Change 4 Kids Stake (512 metres). And Magic Tom and Loads Of Money, both trained by Tara Tipsters in Dean Fennell and David Lewis, fought out the finish.
On the line Magic Tom had 1¾ lengths to spare over Loads Of Money in a time of 30.14 seconds. The race also carried a winner’s trophy of a leather collar and lead, hand-crafted locally by Andrew Earl, also a member of the Tara Tipsters.
But Spare Ya Change and Magic Tom aside, the day probably belonged to Jarrad Williams. And it’s a fair bet he’s yet to take off that prized yellow Tara Tipsters cap.
Currently, the Tara Tipsters are throwing their support behind the Ryder-Cheshire Mount Gambier Home Foundation which was formed out of a desire to provide a caring “forever home” for people living with a disability in the community.
