Month: June 2020

A fierce come-from-behind chasing performance from Shima Shine at Shepparton this afternoon saw the popular speedster share first place with the brilliant Zambora Smokey in one of the races of the year. Billed as the Shepparton Showdown, which also included fellow sprint sensation Who Told Stevie, the battle exceeded its lofty expectations. Zambora Smokey, who recently strung together eight consecutive wins, got the early break on his opposition and looked to have the race sewn up. However, Shima Shine, who holds Ballarat’s 450m track record, showed enormous character to draw…

Mario Briganti is hoping to “rock” Saturday’s heats of the lucrative Jarrod Larkin Concreting Gold Rush Maiden (425m) at Bendigo with four impeccably-bred littermates. Briganti will unveil Ducati Monster (heat 1), Freda Rocks (heat 2), Gitan (heat 4) and Rockstar Ruby (heat 5), siblings by the great Fernando Bale out of Red Rocks, for the first time in the Gold Rush, which was rescheduled from its traditional Easter date due to the Coronavirus outbreak. “They’re well-prepped and they’re genuine chances,” said Briganti. “They broke-in quite well and I’ve been pre-training…

Multiple Group 1 finalist Tauwitchere will be striving to put a disappointing staying campaign behind her when she drops back to her pet middle distance at The Meadows on Saturday night. Tauwitchere stepped up to 700m to target last month’s Group 1 Sandown Cup; however she was unplaced in all four assignments, the most recent a soundly-beaten fifth in a Cup heat. “I was a little bit disappointed with her 700m runs,” said trainer Steve White. “She didn’t jump like she normally can and found trouble every start.” After a…

Warrnambool GRC is excited to announce two $10,000 special events to be run on Thursday, 18 June. Run over 450m and 650m, the events are open to greyhounds with No City Wins, with maidens ineligible. “This is an excellent opportunity for some of our country dogs to compete in Warrnambool for fantastic prize money, and we believe these races could attract some of the sport’s up-and-coming stars,” said Warrnambool GRC Manager, Craig Monigatti. Prize money for the two events will be $7,000 (1st), $2000 (2nd) and $1,000 (3rd). Nominations close…

Precious Hope is flying the flag for the National Greyhound Draft and Team Tzouvelis tonight in Queensland when she lines up in the Group 3 Rockhampton Cup. Despite being one of the last draft picks, the daughter of Barcia Bale and Mepunga Fame, is the $3.50 second elect in the Group 3 event which is run over the 510 metre distance. Trained by Darren Taylor, Precious Hope won her heat of the Rockhampton Cup in a best of the night time of 30.18sec. WATCH: Precious Hope win her heat of…

Potential superstar Paua Of Oscar made a sensational return to racing after a seven-week hiatus at Warragul tonight. Trained by Steve White, Paua Of Oscar ($1.10F) blitzed his rivals with a 7L win in 22.23sec – less than 3L off the 400m track record he holds jointly with former Group 1 star Aston Bolero. It was his fifth win from seven starts. In late March, Paua Of Oscar (Nov ’17 My Bro Fabio x Paua To Admit) equalled Aston Bolero’s mark (22.073sec) which had stood for almost four and a…

Jeff Gorgioski’s affinity with Healesville has come about more through necessity than choice but he’s hoping it will continue when littermates Beers On Brody and Erupting Avatar tackle Sunday’s heats of the Healesville Puppy Championship (300m). “I work full-time on night shifts as a store person so I race quite a bit at Healesville because the Sunday fits in very well with my work,” said Gorgioski. “I’ve owned greyhounds for 30 years – they’re beautiful animals – but I had other people training them. “I first got a trainers license…

Last Hurrah has jagged his second Gr8 Eight win after a nail biting finish over Weblec Haze at The Meadows tonight over 600m. Sent to the boxes as an odds-on $1.90 favourite, Brett Nye’s speedster found the early lead and had control of the race throughout, however Weblec Haze refused to throw in the towel and almost caught him on the line in a photo finish. Last Hurrah made it wight wins from nine attempts out of Box 2, and he chalked up win number 24 from 57 starts. The…

Sensational Victorian speedster Catch The Thief capped off a faultless West Australian campaign with a brilliant victory in tonight’s Group Listed Winter Cup (520m) at Cannington. The Matthew Clark-trained flyer was undefeated in a five-start foray in Perth, which also comprised a $32,000 first prize in the Group 2 WA Derby. Unfortunately, Clark couldn’t be present to witness the ‘clean sweep’ due to COVID-19 protocols and entrusted caretaker duties to childhood mate Steven Shinners (pictured above, courtesy Greyhounds WA), who is based in Port Kennedy, near Mandurah. Jumping smartly from…