By David Lewis
GIANT’S Flash, the dual track-record holder over 512 metres and 600 metres at Mount Gambier’s Tara Raceway, recently ventured to Angle Park on a Monday night with Compton greyhound trainer Tracie Price.
Following a few issues with the son of Banjo Boy x Navada Flame, Price had taken over his training on January 12 and had been quite happy to race him locally.
But the time had come for Price to up the ante.
For the Monday night faithful, there were never any worries.
The $2.10 favourite led all the way, eventually winning by 6¾ lengths in a quick 30.09 seconds – not all that far outside Aston Rupee’s 29.95 seconds track record.
On the Thursday prior, Moorak trainer Jason Newman had hit the highway to Adelaide with Departure Gate to contest a grade five stake over 530 metres.
But Angle Park’s main meeting of the week certainly held no fear for this son of Fernando Bale and Tarks Nemesis.
Last month’s Group 3 Mount Gambier Cup winner simply went to town and got the job done.
With Giant’s Flash and Departure Gate returning to Tara Raceway, the clash of the track-record holder and the cup winner in last Sunday’s first round of the Michelle Niele Memorial over 512 metres was always going to be the highlight of the day.
Adding further interest was the inclusion of Crush Your Enemy, Butter Up Again and Two Hands George for Meningie trainer Tim Richards, who is certainly no stranger to feature-race success at Mount Gambier.
Departure Gate showed the way early from box one, while Crush Your Enemy, always more comfortable when racing wide, moved out from box two on the first turn, forcing Giant’s Flash a little wide.
Down the back straight, though, and Giant’s Flash had found the rails – and the front – before running away to a 2¼ length win over Departure Gate.
Crush Your Enemy was a further 2½ lengths back in third spot in a best-of-day time of 29.59 seconds.
The same field, but with a different box draw, will now contest the $3250 final over 600 metres at Sunday’s meeting.
It was in November 2019 Michelle Niele, at 23 years of age, lost her battle with cystic fibrosis.
Together with her father Michael, of Berringa, she had been a regular at Tara Raceway meetings for a number of years.
She was the seven-year-old kid who figured prominently in the 2003 Mount Gambier Cup presentation photograph with her father who had won the race with Monstropolis.
As such, the Niele family, along with the Mount Gambier Greyhound Racing Club, had been keen to run an annual race in Michelle’s memory.
The event was first run in 2021, when won by the Price trained Golly Gumdrops.
