BETTER late than never, perhaps.
Recently chatting with Mount Gambier friends heavily involved in greyhound racing we learned that we missed several good news stories involving district people involved with the sport.
Our friends at the SE Voice in the Mount explained with an article published in their newspaper mid last December.
They wrote…
Hamilton trainer, Tony Harding, continues to do well with Penshurst Lass, his pint-sized 22-kilogram blue bitch making a real mess of the opposition when winning the Metal Worx 5+W Stake (400 metres) by nine lengths at Tara Raceway.
Even better was that long-time mate and part-owner, Dennis Peach, also of Hamilton, had made it to the track to finally see his dog run.
Penshurst Lass who (by December last year) had raced on 75 occasions for six wins and eight minor placings, is owned by the Blue Syndicate, which comprises Peach and Doveton-based Cathy Flahavin.
She is their first greyhound.
“By Lightning Frank out of Jimary Siesta, we purchased her as a pup for $2000 from Penshurst breeder, Brendan Bunworth,” Peach said.
“Then we placed her with Michael Niele at Berringa for rearing before she was broken-in at Koroit by Peter Byrne.”
And Peach, something of a Hamilton legend back in the 80s, did not need much encouragement to re-tell the story of the Argyle Arms Hotel and his quarter horse.
“Admittedly, I’d had a few, but I still remember the night I rode my horse through the front bar,” he said.
“The next thing I know police have been called and I’m being marched to the police station.
“But it never went much further because it seems the police had no idea what to charge me with.”
More on that incident later in this column.
Sticking with the Penshurst theme and long-time breeder-trainer, John Cameron, landed his first double that week when litter sisters Agnes and No Joke were successful in 1-4 wins events over 400 metres.
For both greyhounds it was a case of bringing up their second wins, Penshurst-based Cameron conceding that it had not been all plain sailing with the pair.
“No, I have to admit there had been times when I had my doubts as to whether I would ever get them going.
Harding told the paper back then Penshurst Lass “surprised everyone on course”.
He trained a modest team of five greyhounds at his property in Hamilton and isn't afraid to travel.
He is a regular at Bendigo, Shepparton, Warrnambool and over the South Australia border at Mount Gambier.
He has trained greyhounds for over 20 years and his first winner was Return To Smile at Mount Gambier.
His dogs are walked every day and he is not afraid to race them, with most racing three times a fortnight.
The 76-year-old Vietnam War veteran is one of those who just loves seeing the animals run, and the thrill of the race day experience.
“The dogs keep me going really and I love traveling the country roads,” he said.
Harding served in the war for 10 months in 1968 fighting as a rifleman who carried the radio.
He was 20 when his number was picked out of the conscription ballot, then a compulsory call-up as part of national service.
Harding admitted after recent poor form he didn't expect ‘Penny' to win.
“She's raced at Mount Gambier a few times now, so I thought she would go alright, maybe not win though, but I still backed her,” he said.
“It's my first winner in a long time but I have run a few placings.”
Dennis Peach, a part-owner of Penshurst Lass, said the little blue bitch was well backed in Hamilton, with the neighbouring town of Penshurst just 30km up the highway.
“She jumped well and once she crossed she really didn't look like losing,” he said.
“Where she goes now is up to Tony, but we all backed her a little bit, so it was a good day.”
Caption….
DENNIS Peach (left) and trainer Tony Harding with Penshurst Lass after the big win last December.
Peach and that hotel romp
THE SPEC reported the incident as follows…
A Hamilton man who was dared by friends to ride his horse into the Argyle Arms Hotel earlier this month was fined $100 in Hamilton Magistrates Court on Thursday.
Dennis Peach told the court he was riding his horse along Gray St on his way home from the Hotel Hamilton when he passed a group of friends at the Argyle and they coaxed him inside.
He pleaded guilty to having been drunk while in charge of a horse.
Senior Constable John West, of Hamilton police, told the court he was on patrol in Gray St about 7.15pm on January 6 when he approached the Argyle and noticed a group of people gathered at a door of the hotel.
He said he discovered a man trying to back his horse out the bar door.
Const West said Dennis tried to turn the horse when outside the door only to fall off and onto the pavement.
Const West alleged he approached Dennis who could not speak properly and only mumbled something about bottles he was going to buy.
Cross examined by Mr Lester Oldham, of Melville, Orton and Lewis, West agreed Dennis used his horse in a similar vein as a bike or car and that he was a person often seen riding his horse around.
There was a feeling of amusement around the general area of the hotel, Const West said.
Mr Oldham said his client was a single man who had lived in Hamilton all his life and had worked as a shedhand, drover and, to a lesser extent, on the railways and that the horse involved on the night in question answered to a whistle or a verbal command “like a trained cattle dog”.
The court heard Dennis had begun drinking about 12.30pm on January 6 and, apart from leaving to go to the “lucky shop” four times and shopping for a short time, had drunk all afternoon.
Stipendiary magistrate, Mr Patrick Street, pointed out to Dennis the maximum penalty for being drunk in charge of a horse was a $1000 fine or two months in prison.
Mr Street expressed concern about the possibility of the horse taking fright in the crowded hotel.
Before a packed courthouse, Mr Street agreed with Mr Oldham that a fine on the “lower end of the scale” was appropriate and hence fined Dennis $100.
Dennis told the Spec outside court he was “pleased with that” and that he “couldn’t complain”.
“I thought it might be $1000,” he said with a relieved laugh.
