After six fantastic heats on Monday night, the Gawler Cup decider will take place this Sunday. With a mix of interstate and local dogs engaged, the heats threw up some brilliant results, none better than the wins of Came And Went (30.37) & Kelsey Bale (30.38).
Whilst those two will start favourite in the $26,000 to the winner final, there will be some stiff opposition with the other finalists in the race. The locally trained Propelled, Silver Stone, Charlee’s Misty, Spring Phoebe and Impress Us all earnt their way into the final and will be doing everything they can to land the Group 3 Cup. Victa Reid will complete the field of eight, for local trainer Lisa Rasmussen, after he ran a close second in the heat, gaining his berth by running the fastest seconds in the heats. Victa Reid came into the heat with some strong form and started an equal favourite with Came And Went. From box six, he came out quickly before being outpaced midrace and finding himself wide and running fourth. As is quite typical with Victa Reid, he stormed home to finish just a length off Came And Went, and run 30.48 himself, which would have won four of the other heats. Trainer Lisa Rasmussen was unsurprisingly quite pleased with the run.
“I thought it was bloody fantastic, just a little bit unlucky,” said Rasmussen
“He’s been going really good chasing his brother!”
The draw has been kind to a few in the race, particularly Silver Stone and Came And Went who have drawn one and two respectively, however, Victa Reid has drawn perfectly in box eight, as he likes to stay wide throughout the run.
“Happy with that, there is a lot of pace inside and I think he can stay out where he will miss it and maybe do a Buzz Junkie, get around the first corner and stay out of trouble.”
In a relatively open race, Lisa rates Came And Went as the hardest to beat.
“On times I would say Came And Went.”
Victa Reid has had a relatively quiet week, with a gallop on Thursday to top him off as he chases his first-ever group race success.
“He’s having a very quiet week, but he will get a gallop tomorrow morning and that’s about it.”
If Victa Reid is able to win on Sunday, it will push his litters’ earnings to almost $600,000, which is just a phenomenal achievement in South Australia. The litter is still just three and half years old and will no doubt relish the masters’ grade once they get there.
The night will also feature some fantastic events which include the Sprint Classic, a Cup Consolation and two heats of the Bothing Stayers.
The racing will start at 5:37 pm on Sunday, with the Gawler Cup to run at 7:51 pm.