Victorian trainer Daniel Gibbons holds strong hand in Group 3 Mt Gambier Cup
The 2023 Group 3 Mount Gambier Cup final will be run and won on Sunday April 2 2023 and Victorian greyhound trainer Daniel Gibbons will hold a very strong hand in the $25,000-to-the-winner race with three finalists, including two of the fastest qualifiers.
Last Sunday (March 25 2023) Mt Gambier attracted seven quality heats for the $36,000 final over the 512m journey and Gibbons won three of those heats with Mr Anderson, Yahiro Bale and Titan Blazer.
Mr Anderson was the quickest of the heat winners leading quickly after box rise and leading all the way in 29.41 seconds.
Mr Anderson, by Bernardo out of Dusseldorf; will be debuting in his first group race final on Sunday and has drawn box seven in the final, the same box where he won three races in a row in February and March 2023 at Geelong, Bendigo and Horsham.
Mr Anderson was bred by Mt Gambier local Dave Peckham who will start two greyhounds of his own as trainer in the final, Lochinvar Cahill and Aston Ziebell.
Keeping the local theme, South Australian trainer Jason Newman who won the 2021 Mount Gambier Cup with Departure Gate, is a co-owner of Mr Anderson.
Mr Anderson has won 11 races from 25 starts with a further eight placings and has earned $17,480 in career prizemoney, so a win on Sunday would more than double his earnings.
2023 Group 3 Mt Gambier Cup Heat 2 – Mr Anderson (29.41) T: Daniel Gibbons
Gibbons trained Yahiro Bale to win the opening heat last Sunday despite a slow get away from box four.
The 2022 Group 3 SA Oaks winner was able to drop in behind the leaders and rail up under them all in the run to the back straight to take over the race.
The daughter of Feral Franky and Dyna Zesty went on to cross the line in 29.47 making her the second quickest of the seven cup heats.
2023 Group 3 Mt Gambier Cup Heat 1 – Yahiro Bale (29.47) T: Daniel Gibbons
Yahiro Bale has again drawn the blue four box for the final.
Titan Blazer was the last of the Gibbons-trained qualifiers winning the fourth heat of the cup in 29.57 seconds from box eight.
The 2022 Group 1 Melbourne Cup finalist has made and placed in many group race finals but is yet to record a group race win.
Gibbons has expressed his hope that Titan Blazer, who will be retiring in the near future, can secure a group race win before the son of Mepunga Blazer and Miss Tron ends his career.
2023 Group 3 Mt Gambier Cup Heat 4 – Titan Blazer (29.57) T: Daniel Gibbons
Titan Blazer will start the Group 3 final from box five outside Yahiro Bale so should get some room to move and can certainly improve upon his 29.57 heat win time after having to overcome interference.
Local greyhound trainer Dave Peckham will start two greyhounds in the final after Aston Ziebell won heat three of the cup and Lochinvar Cahill won heat five.
Aston Ziebell qualified for the final with the aid of box one railing up and keeping Gangsta Paradise racing hard outside it for the entire 512m journey.
Aston Ziebell just prevailed in the run to the line getting the bob in over Gangsta Paradise with both greyhounds officially recording the same time despite the 0.03 margin.
2023 Group 3 Mt Gambier Cup Heat 3 – Aston Ziebell (29.66) T: Dave Peckham
Lochinvar Cahill won heat five of the cup from box two leading up on the rail and using the free space to advantage with the scratching of the greyhound from the one box.
Lochinvar Cahill, by Fernando Bale out of Tears Some; went on to win comfortably in 29.53 which puts him right in contention for a local victory on Sunday.
2023 Group 3 Mt Gambier Cup Heat 5 – Lochinvar Cahill (29.53) T: Dave Peckham
Both Aston Ziebell and Lochinvar Cahill will get every opportunity in the Mt Gambier Cup final after the box draw delivered the locals the prized one and two boxes.
Aston Ziebell will move to box two for the final and Lochinvar Cahill will start from box one.
Springvale Rex won heat six of the cup in 29.75 coming from a distant third in the back straight to swoop past the leaders in the final 100m of the race.
2023 Group 3 Mt Gambier Cup Heat 6 – Springvale Rex (29.75) T: Gavin Harris
Trained by SA trainer Gavin Harris, Springvale Rex has made on group race final previously finishing third in the 2022 Group 3 Howard Ashton at Angle Park.
Sister Roberta was the last qualifier for Mt Gambier's feature race winning the last heat on the day from box seven in 29.66 for longtime Mt Gambier supporter Tracie Price.
Sunday's final will be the first group race final for Sister Roberta since finishing unplaced in the 2022 WA Oaks when trained by Ben Rawlings.
2023 Group 3 Mt Gambier Cup Heat 6 – Springvale Rex (29.75) T: Gavin Harris
Sunday's final is sure to be keenly contested after the box draw elevated the chances of Dave Peckham and Tracie Price's runners to claim a local victory and hold off Daniel Gibbons' three-pronged attempt to take the Mt Gambier Cup back to Victoria.
Mt Gambier Cup Final
2023 Mt Gambier Cup Final Box Draw & FieldMt Gambier512mGroup 3$25,000 to-the-winnerSunday April 2 2023Race 82:37pm (SA Time)
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1 Lochinvar Cahill
T: Dave PeckhamF: 6131Career: 23: 10-4-2Prizemoney: $19,110
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2 Aston Ziebell
T: Dave PeckhamF: 1511Career: 52: 19-11-5Prizemoney: $40,710
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3 Wharfie
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4 Yahiro Bale
T: Daniel GibbonsF: 3771Career: 34: 12-8-3Prizemoney: $92,115
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5 Titan Blazer
T: Daniel GibbonsF: 5431Career: 68: 24-13-10Prizemoney: $223,360
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6 Springvale Rex
T: Gavin HarrisF: 3413Career: 67: 15-18-16Prizemoney: $52,710
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7 Mr Anderson
T: Daniel GibbonsF: 1151Career: 25: 11-2-6Prizemoney: $17,480
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8 Sister Roberta
T: Tracie PriceF: 3511Career: 45: 14-10-10Prizemoney: $40,170
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9 Blackpool Ryan
T: Renee KenyonF: 6462Career: 41: 7-9-7Prizemoney: $43,610
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10 Gangsta Paradise
T: Jessica SharpF: 2352Career: 26: 3-6-2Prizemoney: $17,780
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