The opening round of the SIS Doncaster Yorkshire St.Leger produced more drama and excitement than could be expected from any single greyhound meeting and left newly appointed racing manager Stephen Gray with a headache or two on Sunday morning.
The first humdinger occurred in the eagerly awaited second heat where Coolavanny Bear took an early lead but was unable to shake off his field. They came off the last bend as a pack and in a frantic finish, Karlow Turbo (Kinloch Brae-China Doll, Aug 14) edged to the front to win by a neck in 41.63 (all +20) from Rubys Rascal with Coolavanny Bear and Dinnington Lady inseparable for the third qualifying place. . . .to be continued. . .
The opening heat had gone according to the formbook with 8-11f Swift Hansel (Godsend-Swift Approach, Aug 14) leading at the first bend and holding off second favourite Jetstream Lynx (4-1) by a length and a half with Romany Rouge taking the other qualifying slot.
The third heat saw Russalena Reggie beaten by Phil Simmonds’ 6-1 shot Yaya More Pints (Tullymurry Act-Forest Bell, Dec 14) in a very respectable 41.33 with Bramble Raffa edging out his Geordie counterpart Shellam Delano for third place.
The second drama occurred in the last heat where Paradise Marco broke down soon after leaving the boxes. As the race continued, the stricken hound evaded track staff and set a bee-line across the centre of the infield aiming to meet the hare at the third bend. With disaster looming, the order was given to cut the power to the lure and the race was declared void.
Stephen Gray takes up the story: “Our first priority was obviously Paradise Marco and I am pleased to report that despite our worst fears, he returned home with Liz and Rab McNair at the end of the evening. We then had a decision to be taken about qualifying. All the connections got together and agreed that they would draw for the three qualifying places.
“They duly went t0 Cuba Libra, Coolavanny Smash and Keplar Nine. I would like it to go on record how impressed I was with the dignity shown by everyone. They understood the difficulty of the situation and handled it in the best possible way.”
The issue of the dead-heat between Coolavanny Bear and Dinnington Lady has been updated since our previous post.
The connections of Bear preferred a coin toss to decide qualification, the connections of Lady preferred a run-off, which takes precedence under the rules of racing if agreement cannot be reached.
Gray said: “I have been in touch with both sets of connections and with Mr Illingworth (GBGB) and can confirm that the run-off will take place before racing on Monday, which is our first scheduled race or trial meeting following the race.
“However, we will make the draw with both runners included and the loser would be eligible as a reserve in the case of a non-runner with similar seeding.”
Calls to the the regular track number (01302 843710) are temporarily being diverted to Gray’s mobile.
