Caption: Gerard Bowe’s Another Level wins his semi-final of the $14,000-to-the-winner Golden Chase Sprint (431m) at Ipswich. (Photo: Just Greyhound Photos)

By Pat McLeod

Long-time Clifton ‘postie’ Gerard Bowe isn’t one for wishful thinking.

That character trait continues in the lead-up to two significant finals appearances.

On Saturday his young chaser Another Level will exit Box 1 in the $14,000-to-the-winner Golden Chase Sprint Final (431m) at Ipswich.

On Monday the stakes rise considerably when he enters Narkunda (Box 6) in the TAB Bundaberg Cup Final (531), with $75,000 going to winning connections.

Whenever Bowe’s dogs salute, the 75-year-old celebrates with a cold beer. With those two finals approaching, he hasn’t stocked the fridge just yet.

“There are very good dogs in both of those finals. Very fast dogs,” he says.

“Of course, the fastest dog doesn’t always win a greyhound race, but it sure helps.”

He doesn’t go into either race with confidence, but his hopes are a little higher in the Ipswich assignment with Another Level.

“I don’t go to the track much these days, but I took him to Ipswich for his last start when he had a bit of luck, but won well,” Bowe said.

“He has the right box on Saturday night. If he is good enough, then he is good enough, but there are some good young dogs in that race.

“His record is a fair indication of how good he is (19 starts for eight wins and five placings).

“That is not bad. The dog has shown so far that he can certainly pay his way.

“He is no champion, but if he has the right opposition, he will do OK.

“He’s probably not the best starter in the field and likes a bit of room early. When he is on, he begins well.

“So, he has the box and he just needs to get out well enough and hold his position. You just don’t know what is going to happen outside of you from that 431m start.

“But if you are in front of the trouble, then you are nearly home.”

Bowe points to the obvious main danger, Mick Johnston’s Comedy Act (box 4), who flew around in the opening heat of this series in a sizzling 24.59.

“If Comedy Act came out and ran another fast time, around the 24.60 mark, well, we could not beat that dog. It is just that simple.”

The Golden Chase Sprint final is stacked with talent, with Warren Nicholls’ Kia Kaha (Box 3) and Jemma Daley’s Johnny Koala (Box 7) among the strong contenders.

When Bowe thinks forward to Monday’s prestigious final on the grass at Bundaberg, he struggles to find a winning formula for Narkunda.

“As far as the Bundaberg Cup goes on Monday, Narkunda, he is not good enough to win that race,” he says matter-of-factly.

“If some of those dogs run anywhere near their best, he can’t run those times.

“Narkunda is a good handy dog, but the bottom line is, he is just not up to this class.

“I am not surprised with how good the final field is. This race is worth $75,000, so almost anyone with a decent dog was coming to Bundaberg.

“We will need a lot of luck to do anything in that race. I think common sense tells you that.

“Even the box draw (Box 6) doesn’t do him any favours at all. You couldn’t get worse than that for him.

“With All Natural (Selena Zammit) drawing Box 1, it really is a case of ‘Goodnight Irene’.

“If that dog jumps and goes anything like it did last week nothing will catch him.”

Bowe has just the three dogs in work at his kennels, on five acres near Clifton, south of Toowoomba.

He and wife Lavella ran the local post office for more than 30 years. They recently sold that but continue to do the mail run in the region.

Across ‘about 40 years’ of training greyhounds Bowe has maintained a small, home-bred, and  usually successful team.

He works in conjunction with nephew Justin Bowe, who is based nearby, and usually handles the dogs on race days.

Gerard Bowe doesn’t consider himself ‘anything special’ as a trainer, but says the key for him is treating his dogs well.

“We look after them,” he says.

“You make sure they stay healthy and happy.

“I still enjoy greyhound racing. Yes, you might start kicking stones if you go through a losing streak.

“But you do get a kick out of winning.

“I certainly enjoy sitting back and having a beer after they have won.”