The consistency of Norah Bale paid off for the connections at Gawler greyhounds on Tuesday afternoon.
Jumping well from box 3, Norah Bale was amongst the early leaders in the Grade 6 event over 400m. As they sorted themselves out, Norah Bale shot clear of the pack to take a clear lead from Woodside Zorro (7) and Harvey Specter (4). Unable to get much of a break on the others, Norah Bale slowly stretched out the lead, to win by one length from the fast finishing Harvey Specter, who ran second for Kim Johnstone of Two Wells, with Woodside Zorro not far away in third position for Graham Smith of Woodside.
Norah Bale is owned and trained by Ben Rawlings of Lewiston. The black female initially raced in Victoria, where she had a handful of starts without winning, before coming to SA in March. Since that time, Norah Bale has had 10 starts, with the most unfavourable result being a fourth, and has been a model of consistency with 2 wins and 7 seconds against her record. The last 2 starts have yielded consecutive wins at Gawler and she appears to have a liking for the track and 400m distance. Her wins have added to Ben’s current year’s tally of 68 wins, from just 197 starts, giving him a winning strike rate of 34.5%, plus 57 placings.
Murray Bridge based Tony Rasmussen was the only trainer with multiple winners, scoring a double with Shore’s Girl and Alice’s Entity in consecutive races. Shore’s Girl led all the way from box 3 to win convincingly by 4 ½ lengths, while Alice’s Entity had a tougher run after being caught midfield and out wide. She was only able to hit the front shortly before the finish line, to win by a neck amongst a close group of five runners, all in a combined margin of one length.
Last week’s feature greyhound, Dani Bale, made it three wins in a row for owner and trainer Charlie Adcock. Charlie and his group of admirers were rapt with the first win, but scoring a hat-trick of wins in just over a week had them feeling ecstatic.
Racing is conducted at the Gawler track every Tuesday afternoon and Sunday evening, so why not join us for an excellent meal, while watching great racing.
Ben Rawlings and Norah Bale
Photos courtesy of Arclight Photography