A GOOD MOVE
A move to the country has worked out well for greyhound trainer Michael Stewart, who led in a winner at Gawler on Tuesday.
That winner occurred in a Mixed Grade event over the 531m journey, which saw Loceryl start the best from box 6, taking the lead with Sutton Wil (5) in pursuit. Those two runners broke away from the rest of the field, but down the back straight they bumped together, momentarily losing some ground. Croydon Boys (3) was at the same time winding up and zipped past the other two, opening up a break which extended out to 6 ½ lengths at the finish. Bar Room Brawler (4), which had been midfield early, ran home to grab second placing for Nicole Newlyn of Lewiston, with Sutton Wil running third for Angela Modra of Gawler River.
Croydon Boys ran a good time of 30.96 secs for trainer Michael Stewart, and owner Duncan Stewart. It took Croydon Boys 11 starts to break through for his first win, but he now has a record of 6 wins and 9 placings from 35 starts, and with the way he ran on, Michael is hopeful of moving him up to the 600m journey.
Michael has been part of the greyhound industry for over 35 years, getting involved through family connections. About 3 years ago, Michael decided to increase his involvement in the sport and moved to a larger property at Palmer, with a plan to start breeding his own stock, and take advantage of the SA bred incentives. He now has 14 racing greyhounds in his kennels, a number he is happy to maintain.
Establishing his own property has meant that Michael needs plenty of help with his racing kennel, and that has come from Michael’s partner Tamica Dunn and local resident Brandon Bormann. Michael gets a big kick out of involving others in the sport, and has assisted Brandon to also become an owner.
The move to his own property is paying off for Michael, training 66 wins in 2017, compared with 32 in the previous year. With further planned enhancements to the property, including his own straight track for trialling, that figure could well increase.
An extra afternoon meeting will be held on Wednesday 17th January, in addition to our normal Tuesday afternoon and Sunday evening schedule. Join us for close up racing action and great meals.
