By David Lewis
AS far as 62-year-old Ross Creek trainer Mark Johnson was concerned, he was never going to die wondering when it came to his greyhound Fireworks’ ability to run out a strong 512 metres at Mount Gambier.
“Most of her racing had been over shorter distances prior to her joining our kennels in April and I had been keen to see whether she could go any further,” Johnson said.
“So I lined her up in a 460-metre event at Geelong in early June and when she ran Follow The Band to 3½ lengths I figured that the forthcoming Mount Gambier Anniversary Cup could be worth a shot.”
Fireworks gave plenty of cheek in an Anniversary Cup heat.
She flew the start from box eight and crossed the field to lead for much of the journey before being beaten a length into second spot by Top Cadillac in 29.70 seconds.
A week later, Johnson and his partner Tracy were back in Mount Gambier for the 40th running of the Anniversary Cup, once again sponsored locally by Exchange Printers.
Interestingly, the night prior at The Meadows and Follow The Band, the dog that perhaps encouraged Johnson into stepping up Fireworks in distance, won the $75,000-to-the-winner Maturity for Yambuk owner Tom Sinnott and the Gibbons team of Avalon.
Come the local final and box one runner Fireworks settled in second spot early behind Captain Rosie.
No doubt Johnson would have hoped for his daughter of Sennachie and Mepunga Dasha to be leading around the first turn.
Then, to make matters worse, the Mark Roberts owned and trained Lektra Tony and Cap Abbott’s Top Cadillac were making their moves.
But turning for home Fireworks dashed clear.
On the line she had 1¼ lengths to spare over Lektra Tony, with Top Cadillac a further length back in third spot – the minor placegetters also turning in terrific runs.
“She certainly had to dig deep and I thought it was a terrific effort,” said Johnson, who rates the win as one of his best in an involvement that goes back more than 40 years.
Fireworks was recently purchased by Broken Hill-based Tyson Trengove who, according to Johnson, was over the moon with the win.
“Yes, he was pretty excited with the win when I spoke with him last night,” he said.
“I’m also looking at giving her a run at Angle Park and he’s also pretty happy about that.”
Meanwhile, at the conclusion of the presentation, Tracy was quick to head inside the clubrooms and display the cup and rug for photographic purposes.
“I’ll send some pictures to my kids, I’m sure they will be suitably impressed,” she said.
It was not until 2018 when Johnson was living in the Warragul region he became more involved with greyhounds – to the extent that at one stage he was a committee member of the Warragul Greyhound Racing Club.
“Coursing-wise, I won the Benalla Cup and Longwood Cups with Bees On Fire in 2019,” he said.
“I also gained plenty of experience when working with trainers such as the Daillys, Jeff Britton and Angela Langton, the Grenvilles and the Gibbons.
“Not only that, I was also involved with some great greyhounds.”
Johnson’s Anniversary Cup day ended with a double after Share My Orbit, who chased Gypsy Chick into the home straight before taking up the running, was successful in the Greg Martlew Autos Stake (400m).
By Pindari Express out of Imminent, Share My Orbit is owned by well-known Victorian greyhound man Geoff Collins, who also has Super Seattle with Johnson.
Super Seattle, a son of Shima Shine and the US-bred Super C Azelle, has now recorded two wins and a second from four starts.
Two years ago Johnson and Tracy decided that if they were going to be involved in greyhound racing then they should be doing it themselves.
“We purchased a three-acre property at Ross Creek, only 15 kilometres outside Ballarat and have 24 greyhounds on the property,” Johnson said.
“We actually now have a good cross section of greyhounds and a good group of owners.”
Who knows, maybe they will also become involved with some of their own great greyhounds.
