Bob May

IT may have been Friday the 13th at Gawler greyhounds last week, but it proved to be a good afternoon for Whyalla trainer Yvonne Maxwell as she led in two winners.

Yvonne’s first triumph came in the first race of the day, a maiden over 400m, when reserve runner Jimmy Peruzzi had a good start and led the whole journey from box five.

It defeated Mr Mufasa (eight), trained by Paralowie’s Colin Swain, and Raise The Bridge (four), for Lewiston’s Steven Brook.

In race three, a juvenile event also over 400m, Yvonne’s runner Conner Peruzzi got away well from box two, on equal terms with All Out Crazy (four).

After a short contest, Conner Peruzzi opened up a length break over All Out Crazy, with Rouge (five) a further length away.

These two runners were unable to make up ground on the leader, due to Conner Peruzzi setting a fast pace of 22.63 seconds.

All Out Crazy was second for Lewiston’s Karen Wittholz, and Rouge finished third for Don Turner, also from Lewiston.

Jimmy Peruzzi and Conner Peruzzi are from the same litter and are owned and trained by Yvonne.

This first litter has eight members and all have now raced, with only one yet to win, which is a credit to the evenness of the group and Yvonne’s skill in rearing and training.

She considers Conner Peruzzi the best of the bunch as he has now won three in a row, taking his total to four wins and being unplaced only once in 14 starts.

Yvonne has been in the sport for over 40 years and treats it as a great hobby.

With no greyhound tracks now in the north of the state, she is one of several trainers who have to travel a considerable distance to participate.

To reduce the travel load, Yvonne often brings several greyhounds with her, and uses a local base before returning home.

As with most greyhound trainers, you need good reliable help and Yvonne is grateful for the assistance she receives from her partner, Jamie Sutherland.

A win is good in Yvonne’s eyes, so a double must be special and makes that effort feel really worthwhile.

Racing continues at Gawler every Friday and Tuesday afternoon.