After winning only one of her first 20 starts, Kraken Pearler gave Murchison owner/trainer/breeder Kevin Eyles a $7000 pay night when storming to victory in the inaugural $10,000 Grassroots Regional Distance Final (660m) at Ballarat on Wednesday.
Kraken Pearler had earned just short of $3000 in prizemoney heading into Grassroots finals night, which also featured the Regional Championship Final (450m), taken out by Joe Borg’s odds-on favourite Avenger Lass.
Showcasing the Grassroots theme to perfection, Kraken Pearler, a home-bred daughter of Dyna Double One and Kraken Sal, came into the final on an 11-race losing sequence, dating back to May 13, when she scored over 385m at Shepparton in a Tier 3 Maiden.
After putting the writing on the wall with a strong-finishing second in the Northern Districts heat (650m) at Shepparton, Kraken Pearler ($5.50) demonstrated staying potential when dashing clear in the home straight to defeat Long Black Lass by 3 lengths in 38.47sec.
“I thought she was in with a chance,” said Kevin Eyles.
“She’s been very immature and is just starting to work things out and stop being a silly bugger!
“I didn’t think she had a lot of ground in her, but then in her heat she was steaming home and then she did it again last night. She should get ‘700’ and it won’t be too far away. There’s nice money in distance racing.
“I think the Grassroots series is a terrific idea.
“It came out of the blue; you don’t expect them to put races like this on with good money for dogs that aren’t going that well, so it was very nice to win it.”
Capping off a memorable night for Eyles and wife Helen, Kraken Candy, a daughter of Barcia Bale and Kraken Flash, provided the second leg of a winning double with a slick 25.31sec success over 450m, her sixth win from 22 starts.
“I breed all my dogs myself and that’s why you end up with good dogs and low grade dogs,” Eyles said.
“You can’t just keep the good stuff!
Image gallery courtesy Peter Morganti.
“I’ve had my trainers licence for about a dozen years. The first time I had anything to do with greyhounds was in 2001 when I was asked to organise a syndicate to buy a dog.
“It just progressed from there and I was hooked!
“The first dog I had was Kalimna Chief (19 wins) and then there was Kalimna Rose (25 wins, runner-up to Paua To Burn in the G1 Sapphire Crown in 2004), she was one of the best going around at the time.
“We’ve got about 40 dogs in all and about ten or a dozen race dogs. The quickest we have at the moment would be Kraken Stinger (4 from 12). He’s injured at the moment but he’s only very young.
“I retired about 10 years ago, so that only left me with one job!” Eyles added with a laugh.
After emphatic heat and semi-final victories at Bendigo and Shepparton respectively, Avenger Lass, a daughter of Aston Dee Bee and Lady Avenger, trained by Joe Borg at Maryborough, dominated betting on the Regional Championship Final, starting at $1.40.
Avenger Lass came out running from Box 8 and after crossing to the lead, it was a one-act affair as she won by 3 lengths in 25.42sec, her seventh win from 14 starts.
Borg also snared a double, with Ultimate Avenger, a litter brother to Avenger Lass, clocking 22.10sec over 390m, his 11th win from 35 starts.
WATCH: Kraken Pearler (5) celebrated her second career win in style, powering away with the Grassroots Regional Distance Championship (660m) at Ballarat on Wednesday night.
WATCH: Hot favourite Avenger Lass (8) was a brilliant winner of the Grassroots Regional Championship Final (450m).
