February'08 - Greyhounds Queensland

Andrew ThomsonLetter to the Editor400m start520m startVictoria710m start600m startWPWITH his fastest pupresting at home in thekennels after a lucklesssemi-final run, Geelongdistrict trainer Dave Burnettneeded luck with his back-upteam in the $25,000 VicBreeders Greyhound Seriesfinal at Warrnambool.He got it in bucket loads.No Half Pace, on exposedform one of the slowestqualifiers for the 450mmaiden feature, stayed out oftrouble on the rails for mostof an interferencemarredrace to triumph in25.78 seconds.The 21-month-old JustThe Best-Come On Roxy dog was able tokick clear at the top of the straight aftercoming off best in a massive pile-up on thecorner with favourite Magnificent Tige.He downed the Norm McCullaghtrainedDanger Rhode, with MaryMugavin-Brown’s Modern Halo third.“It certainly helps in big finals,”Burnett said of the luck factor.“He just camped on the rails and keptpunching up. He has that early pace andwas good enough to hang on.”Burnett said the victory contained animmense sense of personal satisfaction,having bred, reared and trained No HalfPace and littermate Jada Kain, which alsoqualified for the final.“The other dog I have at home (ForeverCool) is 10 lengths quicker,” Burnett said.“He just had no luck in the semifinals.”Burnett said winning a feature race inWarrnambool was also special, as it waswhere the first greyhound he raced, JackBenjamin, had so much success.“He was trained by Alby Smedts,” hesaid. “He won 30-odd races up here andwas Warrnambool Greyhound of the Year.”There were three stand-out greyhoundsin the series, but only Magnificent Tigemade it to the final.Forever Cool scorched around in 25.26to clock the fastest of the 14 heats but allthe talk was about Tooradin speedsterWishman.The half-brother of Group performerRooney had trialled around Warrnamboolin 25.05 to be labelled one of Victoria’sboom young chasers.After impressing in his heat, the SteveClarke-trained Brett Lee-Pretty Portraitpup fractured a leg in the semi-finals andtragically had to be put down.The other standout youngster wasMagnificent Tige but trainer MarkMorrissey was concerned after the EliteState chaser drew box eight in the final.He said his charge cost himself acouple of lengths cutting to the rail frombox six in the semi-final and his fearsproved well founded as Magnificent Tigetried to crash across in the final.GREYHOUND SCALESBuy Direct From ImporterThree NEWModels toChoose from ...Want a Good Tip?AirportCars794 Oxley Rd, CorindaContactDaryl & DeniseKavanagh0418 878880Dear Sir,The Logan City Council has endorsed in principle a plan to build a multi-million dollargreyhound racing facility in Logan. Sounds exciting, so if this does eventuate what sort ofgreyhound racing track will be built?There are rumours around that it will be two tracks, one Gold Coast size track with anAlbion Park size track inside it. It is highly unlikely the powers that be would go to thatexpense. The Queensland Government is already carrying a massive debt.We have been racing inside a harness racing track at Albion Park a situation not too manylicensees were ever happy with. How would racing inside another greyhound track be muchdifferent? Why not build one good track and make it the best greyhound racing track everbuilt.Please don’t build another track with starting boxes only a short distance to the first turn.Everyone knows the greater distance to the first turn the less important the box draw. Wedefinitely don‘t need starts like 395m and 600m at Albion Park and 431m at Ipswich.When the story about the Logan site broke it was said there was plenty of land available.Would it be possible to build a track with two starting shutes like the plan enclosed. Mostgreyhound tracks are built for people to watch the racing. Now most of the watching is doneon Sky Channel. So why can’t we have a better track for greyhounds to race on?Geoff DraheimHave the Right Info for YouNew or Used CarsServicing the GreyhoundIndustry for 25 years2000 model, 5speed, aircond, power steer, 5-doorhatchback, Yellow.Genuine 73800km only.Has log books, withservice history,mech perfect.RWC cert, + REVS cert,both current.Price for Journalreaders only $7999.Special of the MonthThe (February, 2008) Journal Page 25