BONNIE VICTORY IN NANCY'S RACE
Nancy Cobain would have thoroughly enjoyed watching the race named in her memory at the Manawatu Raceway Monday afternoon. What transpired was an enthralling contest which saw the Paul Freeman and Angela Turnwald trained Bonnie Bouchea steam home to nail victory in the Nancy Cobain Memorial over the extreme 766 metre staying test. Pictured: Bonnie Bouchea following her Nancy Cobain Memorial race
It was a gutsy performance from Bonnie Bouchea, as she was the youngest stayer in this field (by eleven-months), while she was also the lightest in the field. This daughter of Bombastic Shiraz and Chilling Subject lobbed straight onto the back of race favourite Girl Leg when the field raced past the judge on the first occasion.
Bonnie Bouchea and the silverware she won for her Nancy Cobain Memorial victory
She eased back a tad when entering the back straight allowing the Peter and Lois Henley trained Beilpajah Boy to undertake the chasing duties after the pacemaker. Across the top it was noticeable that the Arch Lawrence owned and trained pair of Kiwi bred stayers Teegan and Shea Sherie were seriously looming into contention.
Swinging for home Girl Leg took one look at the long, tough grind she faced for those punishing bounds to the judge and basically decided she had, had enough. Teegan had to belatedly switch ground, while Bonnie Bouchea, who had been minding her own business on the outer seized the initiative to unleash those powerful final late strides which carried her to victory in a respectable 44.55 seconds.
Unwinding late was Shea Sherie - she flew into second, two and a quarter lengths behind the winner, while Teegan had to be content with finishing third for the second consecutive year in this race when completing the journey three-quarters a length behind her kennelmate.
Fittingly, Bonnie Bouchea was the only stayer trained in Nancy's former stomping ground, the central district region in this race. And also the victory was especially sweet for Freeman, because after 18 years of involvement in greyhound racing, with last four years being based at Foxton, this was his first ever success at the elite Group One level.
There were some emotional scenes at the podium afterwards, which saw Nancy's son David make the race presentation. Holding on very proudly to Bonnie Bouchea was Freeman's 12 year-old daughter Courtney, who had belied her youth in not only handing Bonnie Bouchea, but she was also entrusted in the trapping away duties, a task that young Courtney handled very professionally.
A delighted Courtney, with dad Paul making his acceptance speech (left) and with Nancy Cobain's son David during the race presentations
"It was an absolute honour to receive the trophy from David and a total thrill to win this race which acknowledges Nancy. I never expected her to finish on the way she did and I can assure you I was buzzing when she hit the line, especially after, when she was racing down the back and I couldn't see how she could hold out some of those other stayers.
"It's also a real big buzz to receive congratulations from the fellow trainers in this race - that was special as was receiving numerous text messages from your friends immediately afterwards. I also wish to thank Angela and Damien (Parata), along with others who all help out in doing the hard yards at home."
And what about young Courtney, who surely would have to be the youngest ever to have handled a winner at Group One level? "I'm so happy, ecstatic; she's my favourite dog and I'm so proud," while dad added "I told the owners (J Sowter, R Whitton & K Elwin) after the race that Courtney handled Bonnie Bouchea - they were stunned about her age, but obviously very excited with the win!"
Bonnie Bouchea, who has now won $20,832 in career earnings, will now trek down to the Addington Raceway for her next assignment, with that being the $5,000 Containerman Stockburn Cup over 732 metres on New Zealand Cup night. And the Lawrence trained place getters Shea Sherie and Teegan will return to the Manawatu Raceway to contest the NZRS Distance series over the same trip in a couple of weeks, as their trainer confirms.
"I guess you can say they will be cherry ripe for the NZRS series after that effort. I thought Teegan was a touch unlucky on the turn when she seemed to have to change ground - I thought at that point she was going to win the race.
"I was really pleased with Shea's run, especially after she appeared to be marking time down the back and I had written her off at that stage. Still, I very pleased with the result - you get so much of thrill with the staying greyhounds," commented Lawrence.
It was a super day of racing for the Manawatu Club, which included numerous other noteworthy performances. Amongst them were litter mates from the Big Daddy Cool and Fancy Trace mating winning the two races held for the open-class chasers. Firstly In Command came out and literally tore apart the short course sprinters after jumping from his favoured eight-trap to deliver his slick 21.11 second win over 375 metres for trainer Brendon Cole.
And later on the David Schofield trained Fancy Shelly gave a competitive field of quality chasers a something to think about after she delivered her 457 metre victory in 26.05 seconds. However the fastest 457 metre time posted on the day belonged to another Cole trained runner in Gone Zilla after the Wanganui 520 metre track record holder, cut out his assignment in a slippery 25.74 seconds, which was new C3 grade record on the track.
In Command (left) and Fancy Shelly after the litter mates won their respective open-class races on the Manawatu Raceway on Monday