We have covered off the high class Thursday afternoon chasing action witnessed at the Cambridge Raceway last Thursday elsewhere here. Prior to that action unfolding on the track the presentations was made for the Waikato GRC 2017/18 Greyhound of the Year awards.
It was Beaumont who finished as the top ranked greyhound at the Cambridge Raceway over the previous season. He is prepared by the Drury based conditioner Ben Craik, along with his wife Barbara plus his daughters Lisa and Tracy. It was a great Cambridge season for the Craik family as they picked up numerous other awards.
Beaumont also won easily the 2017/18 Waikato Middle Distance Greyhound of the Year award. He is raced by Jennifer Gill and his season long Cambridge consistency over the 457m distance is clearly illustrated by the 53 points he compiled, well clear of the runner up Barwon Storm (38 points).
It was also dual award wins for another Craik prepared greyhound Suspicious Minds. This son of Black Enforcer and Just Jordana was named as the 2017/18 Waikato Sprinter Greyhound of the Year after he scored 44 points for his owning Katcha Jordana syndicate. The runner up in this section was Raging Demon for Ross and Lynne Udy who finished with 40 points. Suspicious Minds was also named as the 2017/18 Waikato New Zealand Bred Greyhound of the Year and again it Raging Demon who was the runner up.
Suspicious Minds was named as the 2017/18 Waikato GRC 2017/18 Sprinter and the NZ Bred Greyhound of the Year; Accepting the awards for Suspicious Minds pair of wins from Waikato GRC Chairman Wayne Steele were some of the owning Katcha Jordana syndicate members including (from left) John Roberts, Ray Waters, Tracy Craik and Selwyn Loader. They also accepted the Dam award for Just Jordana
Suspicious Minds’ mum Just Jordana produced a number of consistent Cambridge track performers throughout the season and it was through the efforts of her progeny that saw Just Jordana being named as the 2017/18 Waikato Dam of the Year for the same owing syndicate. The 2017/18 Waikato Sire of the Year saw Piggy Back who is stood at stud by Steve Clark taking out that section.
Piggy Back was named as the 2017/18 Waikato Sire of the Year and his award was accepted by Niecy Warren on behalf of Steve Clark
Leading local trainer Karen Walsh was a multiple awards winner. It was her stayer Dusty Gambler who was rated as the leading Cambridge distance performer as he amassed ten points which was sufficient for him to be named as the 2017/18 Waikato Distance Greyhound of the Year for his owner Gary Harding. It was Electric Lotto from the Peter Ferguson kennels who was second in this section with six points.
It comes as no surprise to see Karen Walsh picking up both of the awards for the trainers. She produced 72 winners on the Cambridge track for the season which saw her being named as the 2017/18 Waikato Trainer of the Year. It was Ben Craik with his 68 track winners who was the runner up.
Again it was the same pair of trainers who dominated the 2017/18 Waikato Strike rate Trainer of the Year section. The 72 winners that Karen Walsh mentored came from 188 starters on the track. She produced a further 59 minor place getters which saw her UDR score settle at impressive 0.4908 figure. Ben Craik saw his UDR figure finish up at 0.3368 from his 324 track runners (68 wins, 92 placings) to finish second.
Dusty Gambler was recognized at the 2017/18 Waikato Distance Greyhound of the Year, while his trainer Karen Walsh dominated the Waikato trainers ranks which saw her being presented with the Waikato Trainers and Strike Rate awards from Waikato Chairman Wayne Steele; Day Ray received the Waikato Owner & Trainer award
The Waikato GRC also presented a 2017/18 Waikato Owner & Trainer of the Year which saw David Ray and Delwyn Hunt winning that with 13 wins. First season trainer Emma Potts was second with nine wins.
Packed Manukau Sunday Meeting
It was standing room only inside the Manukau Stadium on Sunday afternoon with a large crowd attending the Auckland meeting. The crowd numbers was boosted by patrons from the Mangere Bridge Tavern and Pat’s Garage who contested the inaugural TAB Battle of the Bridges competition. It was the North Shore based Pat’s Garage who took out the bragging rights (plus a $750 cash prize) with their punting competition win only the Mangere Bridge Wanderers team.
The crowd certainly created a great on course atmosphere which saw the on course tote turnover reaching just a tick under a rather respectable $30,000. The decision to return the Sunday TAB Pick6 to the Sunday greyhounds was also justified with the TAB guaranteed $50,000 Pick6 pool reaching a very impressive $86,000.
It was the Pat’s Garage North Shore based team who won the TAB Battle of the Bridges competition, seen here with a portion of their team; it was a packed Sunday afternoon Manukau Stadium; representatives from Pat’s Garage undertook the race presentation for the Kevin Waru Memorial Sprint, won by the Rob Roper trained Dyna Ulysses. They were remembering the Managing Director from their establishment who passed away late last year
By Peter Fenemor
