BOB MAY

TWO heats of the Gawler Classic were run at the Gawler greyhound track on Friday, with Lewiston trainer Sharyn Gray winning both and scoring her first double “for a long time”.

In race five, the first heat over the 531m journey, Double By Design, from box three, took the early lead, but was quickly tackled by Emerley Hummer (eight), which then went to the front.

The leading pair was well clear of the rest of the field, with Double By Design shadowing the leader.

Approaching the 643m boxes, Double By Design made his move and took over the running as they turned into the home straight, recording a five length win in a good time for the youngster of 31.06 seconds.

Emerley Hummer was second for Moppa’s Judi Hurley, with Stiff Upper Lip (seven) placing third for Monarto South’s Tony Hinrichsen.

The second heat saw Dulkaninna jump well from box one, and establish an early lead over Szubanski Fury (seven) and I’m Top Girl (six).

Dulkaninna opened up a fourlength break over the pair, but entering the home straight, I’m Top Girl got a rattle on, and on the line grabbed the lead from Dukaninna to win by just half a length in 31.30 seconds.

Dulkaninna was second for Gawler River’s Narvette Treloar, with Miss Takiri (three) running third for Lewiston’s Ben Rawlings.

Sharyn trains and owns both dogs, bred from her former racer, Go You Girl, which was a “give away” and had trouble winning prior to Sharyn’s training.

Ending up with seven wins and 21 placings, mainly over the longer journeys, Sharyn decided it was worthwhile to breed from her – a task undertaken for her by Kiah Hurley.

It resulted in a large litter, and Double By Design and I’m Top Girl are the first to race from that mating.

They have achieved a total of nine wins and eight placings between them, from just 21 starts, which is an excellent rate.

Sharyn has a team of 15 racing dogs, plus some retirees and seven pups from the next litter from Go You Girl, in a sign of her confidence in the breeding.

Sharyn likes the feeling of winning, which she said makes her want to keep racing, as well as the social side.

She is very grateful for the help she receives from the members of the Hurley family and would “be lost without them”.

The first four from each heat will now go into the final next Friday, and with two runners now eligible, Sharyn’s dogs should play a big part in the result.

Racing is held at Gawler every Friday and Tuesday afternoon.