Elise Odette’s Big Pay Day in Auction Final
ELISE Odette, a $500 buy as an eight-month-old pup, landed owner-trainer Dennis Moore and his wife Annette a $35,000 payday and their first Group victory when she won the Ipswich Auction final (520m) tonight.
And it sent the perfect get well card to breeder Lester Kleinhans who has been hospital bound with complications after a recent operation.
Elise Odette ($13.00), a daughter of Southern Champ ~ Birthday, scored by a half length over fast finishing Mobile Phantom ($5.20) with a half length to Black Monty ($2.50) in third.
The winner ran 30.92 and started one of the outsiders in the final at $13 despite having won her semi-final last week.
It was the change of luck the Moores have needed. Last year they lost a Brett Lee-Wish Annilise dog pup Moore rated the fastest he has ever trained when he broke a leg in a trial.
And not long after, their multiple Albion Park winner Black Undercover contracted cancer while in pup and had to be put down a few weeks after whelping the Where's Pedro litter.
A former Victorian, Dennis has been back in greyhound racing for only five years. “I trained the mother and she won at Albion Park and five at the Gold Coast but was a most tenacious chaser,” he said. “Lester (Kleinhans) couldn't sell the litter and I convinced a few people to buy, and I bought this bitch myself. I liked her straight away.”
Moore said Elise Odette had sustained a back injury when she flipped over after a straight track gallop early in her career. “She was anything before that happened,” he said. “I had made plans to take her to Victoria for the Sandown Laurels she was going that well. “No one has ever seen the best of her.”
The $35,000 to the winner of the Auction final goes a long way to compensate. Elise Odette escaped early trouble and found herself within the first couple in the back straight where Evil Adams looked all over a winner. But Evil Adams compounded quickly in the straight and Elise Odette raced to the front. Mobile Phantom, and then Black Monty who had copped plenty of early trouble, rattled home to fail narrowly. “It's a blessing,” said Moore of the Group 2 victory.
After the placed runners the field finished in the following order 4th Jillie Bean ($5.30), 5th Evil Adams ($6.70), 6th Gina Rosa ($10.80), 7th Ginger's Me Mum ($30.30) and Bar Room Queen ($19.60). Elise Odette is a November 2005 black bitch by Southern Champ from Birthday (Ballistic Jet x Ultrasun) she has now raced on 47 occasions for seven wins and 15 placings and the $35,000 first prize for the Auction Series took her overall stake earnings to $43,370.
It was the 20th staging of the Auction Series for the Ipswich Club and another successful one, the race has consistently uncovered talented pups that are given the opportunity to race for big prizemoney at the start of their race careers.
The Ipswich Auction Series has had a number of different sponsors since it commended in1989 it was called the Sci-Fleet Ford Auction series for three years, then from 1992 until 1994 it was the Celcast Auction Series. In 1995 for one year it was the Roofshield Auction Series and then the race was taken over by the Rob Lowe Car Company from 1997 until 2001 when the current sponsor Highland Smash Repairs became the sponsor.
Listed below is the full honour roll of the past winners.
1989 Milluna Miss, 1990 Our Gold Coin, 1991 Slick Myth, 1992 Impulsive Gamble, 1993 Marry Me Mary, 1994 Perro Star, 1995 Pride Of Stef, 1996 Nobody's Fool, 1997 Blazing Honour, 1998 Travel Train, 1999 Hypnotic Trans, 2000 Stylish Bandit 2001 Pacific Flash, 2002 Happy Chappy, 2003 Awesome Design, 2004 Fool's State, 2005 Don Paco, 2006 Rylee's Revenge and 2007 Go Makatam.
Thanks to David Brasch Queensland GRA Website for story material.