SIGNAL Peak, a close-up fourth in last Sunday night’s Group 3 531-metre Gawler Gold Cup, will add plenty of interest to Sunday’s Tara Raceway meeting when he contests a heat of the time-honoured 512-metre Newman McDonnell Memorial.
The black and white dog qualified for the Gawler Cup final when running a three-quarter length second to Adelaide speedster High Eden Frost before finishing a three-and-a-quarter length fourth behind Windmill Haze in the $36,000 final.
Bred, owned and trained by Jamie Quinlivian of Merbein South, Signal Peak is from the highly successful Cape Hawke x Rustic Reeta mating, having raced on 65 occasions for 23 wins, 23 minor placings and more than $43,000 in prizemoney.
Signal Peak, who has drawn box three in the third and final heat of the memorial, has never raced at Tara Raceway but the June 2014 whelping is well seasoned and looks well-placed in grade five company.
Adding further interest to this heat is box one runner Lektra Stomp who, although coming off a couple of disappointing runs at Horsham, is a very quick dog.
Third in this year’s Winter Classic, the son of Walk Hard x Lektra Angie is a 29.88 seconds winner at The Meadows (525m) and clocked 29.67 seconds at Tara Raceway (512m) in August.
And lining up from box seven will be Chilly Kiss – a winner last Friday – trained by Connie Miller who also trained Kenzel Lad, the inaugural Newman McDonnell Memorial in 1986.
Penshurst owner-trainer John Cameron, successful in the 2012 McDonnell Memorial with Camo’s Lucky, will look for further success when Fascinated jumps from box six in the second heat.
Fascinated, a daughter of Hutmaker and former top Tara Raceway speedster Spellbound, ran a quick 30.17 seconds at the local track back in September and was a winner over 450 metres at Warrnambool last Saturday night.
Peter Fulton’s Noosa Parade, who has drawn box one and races well at Tara Raceway, should keep Fascinated honest while box four runner Glenville Phil will appreciate the drop back to grade five company for trainer Richard Clayfield who won last year’s memorial with Glenville Jester.
The Nicole Stanley trained Rowchester Star, a winner at Tara Raceway last Friday over 512 metres, looks one of the hardest to beat from box one in the opening heat although Spring’s Over, Zorro Creek and Cilla Brown are also likely to be prominent in the run.
Bull Battle Horn delivers for connections
IT has now been 12 months since local greyhound owners Rex Klaassens and his son Chris, together with father and son training team Allan and Tim Holmes, purchased Bull Battle Born.
By Magic Sprite out of Borgata, a winner of 10 short-course races on NSW and Queensland tracks, Bull Battle Born found her way to Moorak and trainer Allan Holmes’ kennels after having won two races at Warrnambool and Bendigo.
As far as connections are concerned it has been a long year with the 26 kilogram black bitch, Tim Holmes confirming as much after the running of the 400-metre Rock’s Retreat Stake at Tara Raceway last Friday.
“I reckon we got about five runs in with her before she injured herself at Strathalbyn,” he said.
“And as if the injury downtime was not enough, she then came on season which saw her off the track for the first half of this year.
“She came back quite well, beating Arolok Jax in 23.45 seconds at the end of June, however by last Friday it had been something like five months between wins.”
But for all the frustrations of the year, club sponsor Chris Klaassens of Klaassens Contractors was always going to take time out from a busy schedule to check out Bull Battle Born when she lined up from box two in the grade six event.
And this time she repaid connections for their perseverance, leading all the way to defeat odds-on favourite Spring Yankee by two lengths in 23.56 seconds.
A couple of days later, Tim Holmes was back at Tara Raceway with his own dog – Timmy’s Tiger – still trying to win a race after eight starts, but showing promise with three third placings at his most recent runs.
An April 2015 whelping, Timmy’s Tiger has been taken along slowly by the 35-year-old Holmes, mainly due to work commitments with Klaassens Contractors but, also, with the owner-trainer believing his dog needed time to develop.
Jumping from box seven in the 400-metre Laser Electrical Maiden Stake, the brindle dog was away fairly, chasing first starter Tequila Chaser until the home turn where he railed through before finishing the stronger to win by a length in 23.97 seconds.
By Cosmic Rumble x Moorak Hope, Timmy’s Tiger was bred by Mount Gambier Greyhound Racing Club life member Allan Holmes who owned the dam, a winner of nine races including the 2013 SA Country Cup at Gawler when trained by Tracie Price.
