By David Lewis
LONG-TIME Victorian trainer Mick Bowerman of Raglan still remembers the last time he was at Tara Raceway to race a couple of greyhounds.
“Yes, it was back in February 2020 when I came over with Golden Charm and Kentucky Sun who book-ended the meeting,” he said.
“Actually, they gave me my first double in an involvement in the sport that had kicked off in 1971.
“Initially the involvement had been spasmodic but since 2012 when I retired I’ve been regularly involved and it was in more recent times through Golden Charm that I’ve been kept pretty busy.”
By Dyna Double One out of Moonshine Whippy, giveaway greyhound Golden Charm’s first win came at start number 22 when she won over 512 metres in a tidy time of 29.86 seconds at the Mount Gambier track.
A bad box dog, the red fawn bitch won only one more race, several months later at Ballarat over 545 metres.
But Bowerman had been keen to breed with Golden Charm and in May 2021 she had been mated with high profile sire Bernardo. In July, she whelped six dogs and two bitches.
“The litter then kept me away from the racing scene while I waited for them to grow up and hopefully reach the track,” he said.
“Anyway, so far six of the litter have won.”
Recently, Bowerman had two of the litter – Mighty Monarch and Grandpa – engaged at a Tara Raceway Sunday meeting.
The pair had won three races and five races respectively.
Mighty Monarch, a winner of his past two starts in Tier 3 company at Ballarat, ran fourth behind Chester Deeds after finding himself in a pretty tough Exchange Printers grade six 400 metres which was won in a quick 22.91 seconds.
But Bowerman’s trip turned out to be worthwhile when Grandpa led all the way from box four in the Metal Worx Stake (400m).
Raced in partnership with the trainer’s son Adam, the red fawn dog led all the way when defeating My Boy Josh by 2½ lengths in a smart 23.10 seconds.
