Bob May

THE weather might have been cool on Sunday night, but there was plenty of heat at Gawler greyhounds for the running of the $26,500 Gawler Gold Cup over 531m.
In the club’s premier race meeting of the year, the field comprised of four runners trained by Ray Murray, and three by his son Troy.
Troy’s Major Major jumped from box two to take the early lead, but Ray’s runner Air Marshall (box one) quickly railed through to lead, setting the race up as a true father and son battle.
Getting away by three lengths down the back straight, Air Marshall was travelling well, but Major Major was gaining ground slowly.
With the two on level terms entering the home straight, Major Major finished too strongly for Air Marshall, but out of nowhere the fast-finishing Golden Night (box three) flashed home along the rails.
In a tight photo finish, Major Major won by a head over Golden Night, giving Troy the one-two finish ahead of his dad’s Air Marshall in third position.
Both Major Major and Golden Night are owned by George Kairouz, who hails from NSW, and caps off a great few weeks for owner-trainer pair.
The duo took out the prestigious group one Adelaide Cup recently with Golden Night, who also won the group three SA Derby.
Last night’s win took Major Major’s racing record to 20 wins and nine placings from 36 race starts, and a prizemoney tally of over $75,000.
Kairouz said he was “over the moon” with the results, and paid tribute to his friend Terry Hill, and to Troy for their exceptional efforts.
Kairouz has been involved in greyhounds for many years, and explained since meeting Hill back in 1994, he has relied heavily on his advice and judgement when selecting their breeding stock.
Racing only greyhounds that he has bred, George said he felt like a “kid in the lolly shop” being able to have the success of seeing his own litters win group events.
Under Troy’s care, Kairouz said the dogs had gone to another level.
Major Major will now head to Brisbane to contest its derby, while Golden night is off to Melbourne with an invitation to run in the Topgun Race.
Races continue every Friday and Tuesday afternoons – but keep an eye out for a potential change in times soon.