BOB MAY

TRAINER Gary Pidgeon landed a very early double when his two littermates won at Gawler greyhounds on Friday.
Gary’s first winner came in race one, a maiden over the 400m journey, which saw Firecracker Miss (seven) overtake early leader Break Out (five) mid-race to win by nearly four lengths.
Bangor Mist (eight) was second for Napperby’s Ray Burgess,
with Mr Mouchos (four) third for Paskeville’s David Hall.
The next race, also a 400m maiden, saw Yeah Nah Gary (two) go straight to the front, and after an early tussle shake off She’s Mini Winny (nine) and go on to win by over six lengths.
She’s Mini Winny maintained second spot for Calomba’s Leanne Fagan, with Puma Country (eight) running third for Lewiston’s Bob Isaacson.
Firecracker Miss and Yeah Nah Gary are trained at Owen by Gary Pidgeon, and raced in partnership with his wife, Michaela.
These two winners are the first two to race from a litter of eight that were bred by Gary.
Their mother is his own La Nina Lady, which traces its line
back to the second greyhound that Gary ever raced, Universal
Lady, which was a very successful greyhound, winning 32 races from 87 starts.
Gary wasn’t expecting a win with either dog on Friday, as they
were both coming back from a short break after injury and needed a few runs.
He had, however, noticed that there had been a general improvement as they mature, and gain experience.
Yeah Nah Gary had copped a big bump at his first start,
and taken time to find his feet, but Gary said he was pleased
with the big improvement he had shown last week.
Gary started training at a youthful age in 1981, but gave it away for a while before resuming about 20 years ago.
He has about 20 greyhounds in work and is ably assisted by
Michaela, who trained her first winner in her own name a month ago.
Gary supports the new greyhound racing format known as
G-Six racing, which has a field of only six runners and is currently being trialled in South Australia.
At the track for the first time were Gary’s friends Owen Parker and Valerie Black, who both hail from Owen as well.
They certainly picked a good day to visit, and Gary is introducing them to the sport through a racing syndicate.
Gawler races every Friday in the late afternoon timeslot,
and Tuesdays starting around midday.