CAPTION:Trainer Blake Pursell and connections after Twisted Reality’s victory in the recent Shane Yates Memorial Cup in Hobart.

Tasmanian roundup with Brennan Ryan

BRIGHTON mentor Blake Pursell celebrated his second classic win as trainer when his powerhouse sprinter Twisted Reality scored an emphatic victory in the recent Shane Yates Memorial Cup Final in Hobart.

Starting from box three against a top-class field, the locally-bred son of Spring Gun and Champagne Girl was only fairly away at the start with reserve runner Tah Liam taking up the early lead as the field charged into the top bend.

Despite holding the lead, Tah Liam was closely followed by Quick Joey Small with Twisted Reality.

Turning for home, Twisted Reality gained a brilliant gap through the field and started storming down the centre, dashing to the front in the shadows of the post to score by three-quarters-of-a-length to register a slick 25.94s.

Kennelmates Quick Joey Small and Highland Wonder filled the placings for Longford trainer David Crosswell.

After the race Blake Pursell said Twisted Reality deserved to claim a feature, having come very close in recent runs.

“From day one Twisted Reality has shown ability and really deserves to land a big win at his age,” the trainer said.

“The dog is well suited over the middle distance but with the lack of races around we decided to drop him back in distance and thankfully it’s paid dividends. He’s a versatile chaser and it’s been a pleasure to train him throughout.”

Victory in the Shane Yates Memorial was the second feature win for Twisted Reality who also took out the Greg Fahey Middle Distance Championship last year. He was also runner-up in a Launceston Cup final to Cashien and other local top class feature events.

Blake says winning the Shane Yates Memorial is extremely special to both him and breeder/owner Barry Heawood.

“I’m lost for words really,” he said. “I had spent countless hours on the phone in the past with Shane when he would ring to do an interview. Shane was a great mate and he really loved greyhounds. I’m sure Barry would be proud too.”

Trying Again’s deserved Sprint win

Trying Again broke through for a much-deserved feature race victory for connections when saluting the judge first in the $6955 Tasmanian Sprint Championship Final (515m) at the Ladbrokes Racing Centre in Launceston.

Trained by Adam Whitford at Brighton for owner Garry Sullivan, Trying Again jumped as the $4 second favourite off box six and was able to overcome a slow start and early trouble, railing through into third down the back.

Despite being a few lengths off the leader, Hey Dougie, the black sprinter never gave in, charging to the line to win by a half-length in a sizzling 29.63s and bringing up his 11 win from 24 starts for a brilliant feature race triumph.

Quick Joey Small finished in third ahead of Twisted Reality who got going again late to grab fourth.

An emotional Adam Whitford was full of praise for the two-and-a-half-year-old chaser.

“I’m lost for words, the dog has proven he can be strong if not equal against these top sprinters,” Whitford said.

“The race was won by the way he positioned himself through the first bend. He had to keep clear of the field when it got congested. He ran a perfect race showing how strong he is with mid-race pace. It was a super performance.”

The son of Bekim Bale and Shanghai Lil has now taken his career earnings to $29,525.

Warren and Sonia Kempshall, based at Sandy Crossing in New South Wales, bred the litter which has won 17 races.

Adam said the close bond he has with “Max” is what makes the training routine easy to follow for the preparation.

“You need to keep on top of his work between races as we learnt during the Tasmanian Derby series,” he said. “The dog is an absolute pleasure to train and I have a great association with the dog, which makes my job easier.

“Big wins like these are hard to achieve and I couldn’t do it without my partner Sonja (Gangell) who supports me in everything I do and to follow in my dad’s (Graham Whitford) footsteps as a trainer is what makes the win special.”

Dewana Whatever goes the Distance

Anthony Bullock’s Dewana Whatever landed his second major race title of 2021 with a thrilling victory in the Tasmanian Distance Championship Final at the Ladbrokes Racing Centre in Launceston.

His class and solid race fitness was the difference as the son of Over Limit-Dewana Sienna silenced all critics with a brilliant 720-metre debut after leading throughout.

The Exeter-trained galloper delivered Anthony Bullock his third success in the Tasmanian Distance Championship having won the stayers event previously with Excessive Heat in 2003 and 15 years later with Bronelly Jacob in 2018.

New media partnership for Tasracing

Tasracing has entered a media partnership with the Sports Entertainment Network (SEN).

SEN operates a network of sports and racing radio and digital assets in15 Australian markets, including Tasmania, and 26 markets in New Zealand.

The partnership is based on creating new in-depth pre- and post-race content to help Tasracing attract more Australian racing fans to Tasmania’s greyhound, harness and thoroughbred codes.

This will complement Tasracing’s existing exclusive live racing broadcast rights partnership with Sky Racing.

The new SEN partnership includes a wide range of content and promotion which provides a significant opportunity to showcase all aspects of the Tasmanian racing industry and products.