Caption: Trainer Paul Rehmann and owner Bec Wienert after Razzle Darryl’s late charge to land the John Gray Final at Angle Park. (Photo: Kurt Donsberg)

South Australian News With Kurt Donsberg

IT’S arguably one of the biggest nights on the SA racing calendar and the second running of the Festival of Fire proved a hit again – with participants and spectators alike.

With six finals being run, and over $130,000 in prizemoney on offer, it’s no surprise it’s a night that trainers target – and this year it was Springvale Roxy who took out the main feature, The Ashes.

Trained by Michael Giniotis, the little fawn girl has been a revelation in recent months with six wins from her previous 10 starts and a good chunk of those victories in very smart times.

Starting on the second line of betting, she jumped well enough to find herself in second place down the back and then hit the afterburners to draw away from her competitors. She stopped the clock in a solid 30.57 and big Mick was all praise for his chaser.

“She’s only a little girl so she needs to be somewhere near the front otherwise she’ll get spat out the back,” said Giniotis.

“It’s all about confidence with her. I’ve tried to place her in races where I think she can lead. Whether it’s Angle Park or Gawler or Murray Bridge, I’ve aimed for the lowest grade races possible to build her confidence up. Tonight was just the icing on the cake.”

Other winners on the night were Me Same You in The Blaze over the 730m, Victa Damian in The Spark, Victa Kurt in The Flame, Harry in The Bonfire and Zipping Chew in The Inferno.

To prove the training strategy was no fluke, Springvale Roxy lined up in the SA Sprint Championship two weeks later and started 2023 the way she finished 2022 with a convincing win. She rattled off a 30.79 heat win and again drew a wide box (box seven) in the final a week later.

Surprisingly, with seven wins from her last nine starts before the race, including the feature race of the Festival of Fire series, she didn’t start favourite – or even second favourite – but once the lids went up and she was in front on the first bend, she was the only dog you wanted to be on.

Down the back she put a few lengths on them and maintained the buffer until Came And Went emerged from the pack. But all the heavy lifting had been done and win number 24 was well and truly in the record books…..and in a best of the night, and new personal best, time of 30.39 to cap it off.

Giniotis was again very pleased with his star chaser.

 “Her early pace is what won her the race tonight,” he said. “In The Ashes she might have been a touch lucky, but tonight she really earned her win. I’m very pleased.”

Where she races next is yet to be determined, but you can bet Michael will have her ready to go and the partnership will continue its success.  

Versatile Soda in great form

Whiskey Soda, trained by Steve Coates, is in a rich vein of form at the moment and showing plenty of versatility winning over 455m, 530m and 595m.

Steve, who isn’t one of the states biggest trainers, believes in quality over quantity and makes sure his dogs are in tip top nick to give themselves every chance.

Coming off a best-of-the-night win the week prior over the 595m journey, Steve opted to nominate her for the Kate’s A Scandal Xmas Sprint and when the fields were released he must have been surprised.

Five nominations were all that were received and a mid-week scratching reduced that to four, with the talented Mallee Magic a raging hot favourite.

However, no one told Soda! Mallee Magic was coasting out in front with Whiskey Soda in hot pursuit. Down the back she was a few lengths off the lead in second place and around the home bend the task looked insurmountable, but she showed real guts to keep chipping away at the lead and ultimately won by a head.

The win was the biggest of Steve’s training career and well deserved for one of racings good guys!

Darryl shows some Razzle Dazzle

Razzle Darryl was finally done with being a bridesmaid and became the bride….. well, groom I suppose!

After taking Darryl on in late September, new trainer Paul Rehmann got off to a flyer with a first-up win after a five-week layoff and things looked positive. Darryl won in the best of the night over the trip, Paul was happy as was new owner Bec Weinert.

At his next start he had no luck, which repeated in the start after that and then the start after that. It became a common theme for the next three months, aside from a win in mid-November and Paul was left scratching his head.

“He could get run off in a solo trial,” said a whimsical Rehmann “If he didn’t have bad luck he’d have had no luck at all!

“It’s not as if the dog has done anything wrong, he just gets blocked at a crucial time or he’ll cop a hit from behind and his race is over. He never stops trying though”

Then his luck changed in a heat of the John Gray. He started from the pink, ironically his worst box statistically, and got a lovely cart up from Fifty Eight in the neighbouring box seven. Off the back he was in front and survived a late rally from his pace dog in Fifty Eight.

“I was pleased with his heat win and then when we drew box two in the final I was even more pleased. He definitely likes the inside three boxes,” he said.

“I think I am right in it. If I can get a clear run to the first turn then I think we’re a winning chance.”

Unfortunately, the line out of the boxes in the final was as even as I’ve seen and Darryl was pushed back to last with a lap to go. When the lids went up he didn’t jump poorly, just every other dog jumped better and with a lap to go he was at the rear of the field, and had a mountain to climb.

So he started climbing!

They say the quickest way from point A to point B is usually the shortest and the big fella proved it. He kept burrowing through underneath dogs, scraping paint of the rail the whole time. In fact, if you watch his replay he didn’t go around a dog the entire race and showed plenty of race smarts.

Off the back he was sitting third with a couple of roughies out in front and, well and truly, in his sights. At that point if you could have put a bet on, you would have borrowed as much of the folding stuff as you could and put it all on the big white and black dog. He was charging! On the home turn he gave one last push and speared through on the rail and, with momentum on his side, charged to line to win with a couple of lengths up his sleeve.

There was plenty of emotion after the win for both owner and trainer.

“I’m just so pleased for the dog. He really deserved this win; the way he tries his heart out every single time, this is a great reward,” said Rehmann.

“He’s had more than his share of poor luck over the last couple of months so I’m just really pleased. It’s my biggest win as a trainer so far and I’m grateful to owner Becc Wienert for trusting me to take on the dog.

“It was an honour to win the John Gray. I have fond memories of the man and he always treated me well back when I was a teenager in the industry.

“He will be aimed at the Sprint Series at Murray Bridge as he has shown a liking for that trip in the past.”