Bob May

ON a very pleasant afternoon at Gawler greyhounds on Friday, the first three races on the program were the heats of the Gawler Classic 2020, run over the 400m distance.
A paid-up series for SA-bred greyhounds whelped between July and December 2018, ‘The Classic’ final will be conducted this Friday.
The first heat was won by Our Boy Wolf (box-four), which went straight to the front, before being headed by Marlee Jaye (box-seven) who extended its lead out to two-and-a-half lengths down the back straight.
However, Our Boy Wolf slowly gained on the leader, and drew level in the straight, before saluting the judge with just a half-length in hand in 22.73 seconds.
Heat two saw diminutive greyhound Zinfandel Oompa lead all the way from box seven – at one stage getting out to a three length break over Chief Sebon (box-one).
That was whittled back to just a length, with Zinfandel Oompa recording a winning time of 23.25 seconds.
Weighing in at 24kg, Zinfandel Oompa is also one of the youngest in the series, giving away a few months of experience to some of her rivals.
She is trained at McLaren Vale by Gavin Harris, who is also a part-owner with friends Stewart and Cherylee Barber.
Zinfandel Oompa was bred from their racing female, Zinfandel Zara, which unfortunately had its promising racing career cut short after an injury.
This first litter from Zinfandel Zara, by top sire Fernando Bale, was also the first to be whelped by Cherylee and Stewart, retaining four pups in partnership with Gavin.
Trainer Harris said Stewart and Cherylee are “riding the wave of excitement” that can come when you have success with your first litter, and be able to have a runner in a final.
The final heat of the day went to the impressive Funambalist, who was able to lead the whole journey to defeat Australasian Art (box-two) by nearly two lengths in 23.07 seconds.
Trained at Williamstown by Jane McNicholl, Funambalist has a perfect winning record from those three starts at Gawler, for a career tally of six wins and six placings from 13 starts.
Things are shaping up for an interesting final on Friday, which will see the heat winners, and runners up, competing for $3000 in stake money.
Join us for the final on an interesting program, with racing also on Tuesday afternoon.