VICTA Louise (Fabregas x Victa Brooke Jun '16) added her name alongside some of the greats such as Head Honcho, Worm Burner and On Fire when saluting in Thursday's SA St Leger (515m) at Angle Park.
Jumping from box six Victa Louise got clear room to move early and quickly scorched her way to the front of the pack, kicking clear around the first turn.
Despite the best efforts of her rivals the black bitch was far too nippy, crossing the line two and one quarter lengths clear of Long Gully Gus (Kc And All x Long Gully Libby Aug '15) in a best of night 29.80.
Fabwik (Fabregas x Wikena Feb '16) ran a great race to finish third, four lengths off the Robyn Mackellar-trained winner.
“She did everything right – we are absolutely thrilled with her,” Mackellar told Australian Racing Greyhound.
“It was a massive effort from her. It was a three-week series up against some of the best young dogs in the state, but she doesn't turn two until June so she was giving away plenty of age and experience.
“Every week she just kept getting a little bit better – you can't ask for much more than that.”
Victa Louise has now won eight races from 11 starts, with Thursday's winner's cheque taking her earnings above $15,000.
Mackellar said the win was a massive thrill for her owners, Ron and Joan Schadow, who also bred the talented speedster.
“They were over the moon – to see them smiling like they were makes it all worth it.
“They had their daughters and their grandkids there last night, so it was pretty special to have everyone there cheering and screaming her on.”
Having previously compared Victa Louise to her former group winning sprinter Fabregal, Mackellar said she is keen to travel interstate with her bonny bitch this year.
Her major target is likely to be the Group 2 Bogie Leigh Queensland Futurity in April, however there is also a race closer to home that Mackellar has on the radar before then.
“We've got the SA Breeders series coming up in March so that will probably be her next goal.
“She is in at Gawler on Tuesday where she has drawn box seven and then after that she'll probably have a bit of time off before the Breeders series.
“The trick will be placing her well now – I don't want to knock her confidence around before we go after some of the bigger races.”
Mackellar still doesn't want to get too excited about the future, but admits there is no telling how far the 20-month old could go with a bit more age and maturity.
“We are just taking her along at this stage and she is loving what she is doing – each race she is becoming more professional.
“I am just absolutely stoked with her so fingers crossed she can keep going and doing what she is already doing.”
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VICTA Louise (Fabregas x Victa Brooke Jun '16) will be the greyhound to beat in this Thursday's SA St Leger (515m) after a slick win in her semi-final of the feature last week.
Stepping from box seven, Victa Louise showed tremendous acceleration, clocking an airborne 4.39 to the first mark. Out on the bunny the black bitch never looked in doubt, cruising to the line to defeat Zellman (Black Magic Opal x Sal Talk Oct '15) by four and three quarter lengths in 29.93.
It was her fifth straight success and third over the 515m journey. The Robyn Mackellar-trained youngster has now faced the starter 10 times for seven wins and one second.
Mackellar said she couldn't be happier with her 28.4-kilogram speedster heading into the final.
“She is coming up to the 500m quite nicely and she is doing everything I ask,” Mackellar told Australian Racing Greyhound.
“She has been sitting on the 4.45 mark early, but she got plenty of room to move the other night and she absolutely flew early.
“She still hasn't completely figured out her racing style. She ran home in 12.84 in her heat, then in her semi she only ran home in 13.09 but her first two sections were flying.
“I think she'll even out a bit more, but right now I couldn't ask anything more from her.”
Victa Louise will start from box six in the final, her main threats appearing to be Long Gully Gus (Kc And All x Long Gully Libby Aug '15) and Emerley Nolen (Nolen x Emerley Charmer Dec '15) which will jump from boxes eight and two respectively.
Mackellar says she isn't put off about the awkward draw, believing her star performer is able to overcome box six with a clean beginning.
“I'm not too fussed what box she gets. She isn't a mad railer so she doesn't need the inside – she is quite happy to sit a couple off the fence and then she'll cut back down around the turns.
“But she does need room to move the first five metres because she isn't a lid pinger. She comes out with them and she musters quick so if she can get clear room she should be able to find the front.”
Mackellar said a win in the final would be a massive thrill for herself and Ron and Joan Schadow who bred and own Victa Louise.
“Her owners are very humble – they get the same buzz winning these feature races as they do winning a maiden on a Wednesday afternoon.
“But they are over the moon with how she is going – they are great people to train for. We are all thrilled she made it through – she was the youngest in the series and she is coming up against some dogs with a lot more experience, but fingers crossed she can get the job done in the final.”
The $9,290 SA St Leger final will be run and won at Angle Park this Thursday night.
2018 SA St Leger – box draw
1 – Madam Onyx
2 – Emerley Nolen
3 – Fabwik
4 – Zellman
5 – Dakota Dawn
6 – Victa Louise
7 – Nirimba Pirate
8 – Long Gully Gus
Reserves
9 – Emerley Storm
10 – Darcy Brown
ROBYN Mackellar looks to have another smart youngster on her hands after Victa Louise (Fabregas x Victa Brooke Jun '16) strung together consecutive wins when saluting at Gawler last Wednesday.
Stepping from box seven, the black bitch carved across the field and never looked in danger, defeating her rivals by seven and a half lengths in a flying 22.41 over the 400m trip.
The win followed on from a blistering 21.97 success over the 388m journey at Angle Park six days prior – just two lengths outside the track record.
Mackellar said she is trying to keep a lid on her excitement, but admits it is difficult after the impressive start to Victa Louise's career which has so far yielded four wins from just seven starts.
“I got her a month after break-in and she has shown a lot of ability right from the start,” Mackellar told Australian Racing Greyhound.
“The big test for her will be if she can keep doing it when she gets up over 500m, but she is doing everything right at this stage so we are very happy with her.”
Victa Louise is owned and bred by Ron and Joan Schadow who race all of their greyhounds with the ‘Victa' moniker.
They have had plenty of good dogs over the years including Victa Pedro (20 wins), Victa Victoria (26 wins), Victa Troy (19 wins) and Victa Brooke (22 wins).
However, with plenty of youngsters on the ground, Ron and Joan recently made the decision to give Mackellar some of their racers to train.
“They breed and rear themselves on a fantastic property at Victor Harbour – but they had a couple of litters on the ground and it was starting to get a bit too much.
“They are great people to train for. They have been in the dogs a very long time and they treat them very well – they really are beautiful people.”
Mackellar's next aim will be getting Victa Louise to run out a strong 515m trip and, if she shows she can, the Lewiston conditioner has some big plans in store.
“There are some smart pups around, but I hope to travel around with her – she is the right age to go in some of the Classic races.
“I'd like to head to Brisbane with her for the Futurity all going to plan – I did the same thing a couple of years ago when I won it with Fabregal.”
Mackellar rates Victa Louise so highly that she has already drawn comparisons between her and her former star greyhound.
Another chaser by leading sire Fabregas, Fabregal is owned by Terry Mccallum and is currently racing in Victoria for Mackellar's friend Lyn Smith after winning the Group 2 QLD Futurity and the Group 3 Gawler Cup for Mackellar earlier in her career.
The rising four-year-old has won 43 of her 78 starts and more than $212,000 throughout her career.
“It's funny because Fabregal went 22.44 at her seventh start at Gawler and now Louise has gone 22.41 at her seventh start.
“I liken her a lot to Fabregal. She has the same attitude and racing style and she has impressed me right from the word go – I think she is going to be quite special.
“When I travelled with Fabregal I learned a lot and met some great people – hopefully we can target the same races but with a bit more preparation and knowledge this time.”
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