The Gawler Greyhound Club staged its first running of the Easter Sprint over the 531m distance on a balmy Sunday night.
When the lids went up in the mixed Grade4 and 5 event, Halo Haze from box 3 showed the way, from Ruff State (4) and Marlow Brown (7). Down the back straight, it was a close battle between those three runners, with Allen Portland (6) sneaking up behind them on the rails.
Around the home turn, Allen Portland gained the upper hand on the inside and went to the front, withstanding a strong finish from Marlow Brown, to win by less than a length in the time of 31.05 secs. Marlow Brown is trained at Angaston by Paula Hearnden and third was fast finishing Cut Loose Max (8), for Con Haagmans of Marrabel.
Scott Feltus trains Allen Portland for the Highercombe Hacks, a syndicate of golfers from the Highercombe Golf Club, and managed by Justin Kuhar. The syndicate made contact with Scott Feltus through friends and a work syndicate, and they now race 4 greyhounds with Scott Feltus. With a wide draw in the race, Scott Feltus was not overly optimistic about his charge’s chances, as Allen Portland prefers an inside run, but once the greyhound did find the rails, off he went.
Scott Feltus’s father Ken Feltus was a trainer in harness racing, but Scott Feltus didn’t follow that path as he found that code to be too expensive. Although only involved for some four years, Scott Feltus is full time in the industry and loves to work with the animals.
The other feature race for the night was the running of the Future Stars, which saw the well fancied Long Gully Josh lead all the way, to easily take out the event for owner trainer Paula Hearnden. A member of the very successful KC And All by Long Gully Libby litter that Paula Hearnden has bred, Long Gully Josh has a terrific record of 11 wins and 3 seconds from 14 starts.
Enjoy great racing, conducted at Gawler every Tuesday afternoon and Sunday night, along with an excellent meal in our fantastic facilities.
L to R; Mike Wittholz (Chairman Gawler GRC), Jasmyn Hurley (handler), Scott Feltus,
Bob May (Secretary Gawler GRC) with Allen Portland.
Photos courtesy of Arclight Photography