Above: Bendigo Trainer Des Downing, his wife, Yvonne (handler) and winning pup Gold Heritage are awarded the Cranbourne Cup trophy by Minister for Racing, Dr Denis Napthine.
By Justin Robertson
DESPITE muddy conditions and teeming rain, Bendigo-trained greyhound Gold Heritage was able to adapt to the poor weather and win Monday night’s Group 2 Cranbourne Cup.
Eighty-year-old owner-trainer Des Downing and wife Yvonne were ecstatic with their pup, which beat a string of local dogs, including Troy Iwanyk’s Bramley, Greg Tatti’s Black Saharrah (both from Devon Meadows) and Kel Greenough’s High Earner (Pearcedale).
“I’m very happy with how she ran,” Downing said. “We didn’t do much afterwards as we had a three hour drive back to Bendigo to look forward to, but we are going out next Saturday to celebrate with family and friends.”
Downing said he was confident going into the race as the two-year-old drew box eight, which in the trying conditions proved to be a stroke of luck.
“I went down and trialled her for the cup and thought she was good enough,” he said. “In the final at box eight, with the weather and rain the way it was, the track was a lot firmer on the outside so I was very confident before the race.”
Gold Heritage had a dream run, hitting the front early with no interference. She was challenged by Bahen-trained Finbar McCool as they headed into the back straight but the Bendigo dog pulled away on the home stretch to win by four lengths and clocked up her 12th win from 20 starts – her second from as many starts at Cranbourne – taking her total prize money earnings to $46,315.
Coming into the cup Downing said Gold Heritage had been in rare form.
“She won at Sandown and The Meadows and she’s been trialling well – brilliantly really,” he said. “She had been out for a seasonal spell and I knew whenever she ran next, there’d be improvement.”
Downing first took up training greyhounds as a 12 year old, learning the craft from his father who made a living training and racing greyhounds. By the time he reached 21, he was racing greyhounds on his own and had some success with a bitch called Hunting Gold who won the 21st Anniversary TAB Eaton Final and racked up $71,000 total prize-money.
“We’ve had a lot of bread and butter dogs, with some good wins and also misfortunes,” Downing said. “Apart from that, the Cranbourne Cup was our biggest win.”
Des’s wife Yvonne, 78, has been handling his greyhounds since they got married 57 years ago.
“She’s been a great help,” Downing said. “Without Yvonne’s help we wouldn’t be going at all.”
The couple, who hail from Junotoun – a suburb in Bendigo – have nine children who are scattered all over the world including Germany and North America. “Most of them helped us with the dogs when they were 14 or 15 – they all did their turn helping,” Downing said. “They appreciate the good qualities of a greyhound.”
Downing said he’ll be racing Gold Heritage in the Perth Cup heats later this month, with the final to be raced in early February.
“There will be a lot of good dogs there. She will need a lot of luck, but I think the track there will suit her because it’s a big track which suits a dog with a good finish,” he said. “We can just go over there and try and give her best.”
