Contact

  • Tuesday, 17 Mar, 2020,
  • by Peter Quilty

Horsham honk for Tonk

Young Mount Wallace trainer Correy Grenfell, 26, celebrated back-to-back Group 2 Locks Constructions Horsham Cup (485m) wins tonight courtesy of Tiggerlong Tonk.

A dual G1 finalist, Tiggerlong Tonk was quick to begin from box three and took full advantage of a scrimmage on the first turn to claim a $47,000 first prize.

Bred and owned in Wagga Wagga by Michael Finn, Tiggerlong Tonk ($2.50F) defeated Mepunga Pegasus ($28.00) by three lengths, with Barcia Prince ($9.10) around a further two and a half lengths away third in 27.17sec. (Both place-getters are trained by Jeff Britton, who rugged four finalists.)

Tiggerlong Tonk (Feb ’18 Dyna Double One x Tiggerlong Dot) notched his 15th win from 28 starts, and stretched his unbeaten streak at Horsham to four wins. His stakes spiralled to $146,795.

“It was a real pleasing run… The last couple of weeks have been pretty average. He came into this underdone, but sometimes you have to do the little extras to win these sort of races,” Grenfell said in reference to isolating his young star from a recent canine gastro outbreak which has tested the sport.

Grenfell added Tiggerlong Tonk has always been a mad chaser and that he had to close his eyes at one stage when he bullocked his way through on the first turn.

“He’s got a big future… To do what he’s done already,” Grenfell said. “We’ll now look at going to the (Golden) Easter Egg, but we’ll see how he pulls up.”

Grenfell’s group racing giant Orson Allen won last year’s Horsham Cup, setting a new track record of 26.87sec.

And it was Orson Allen’s racetrack feats that allowed Grenfell to purchase a 51-acre property at Mount Wallace (just over 30km from Bacchus Marsh).

An inspiration to the younger generation, Grenfell has ‘done the hard yards’ in the industry, with Orson Allen and now Tiggerlong Tonk guaranteeing a secure future for his family.

Only last month, Grenfell became a proud father for the fourth time when wife Samantha presented him with twin girls – Ava and Gracie. The Grenfells also have two young boys – Xavier, 6, and Ollie, 2.

Ironically, Tiggerlong Tonk and Orson Allen share a similar form line at respective stages in their careers.

However, Grenfell rates Tiggerlong Tonk slightly quicker over 450 metres, but probably not as strong as Orson Allen.

VIDEOS

PHOTO GALLERY


Photos by Clint Anderson

Peter QuiltyPeter Quilty

Peter Quilty

Peter Quilty has more than three decades of experience as assistant editor of Victorian Greyhound Weekly. He was editor of GRV monthly magazine The Adviser (2001-09) and owner/publisher of Australian Greyhound Monthly. He also served on the selection panel for the inaugural GRV ‘Hall of Fame’ inductees and for several years was an adjudicator on the Victorian GOTY. He’s also published greyhound racing yearbooks and wrote the ‘Bold Trease’ video script.

Up Next

Happy birthday GAP, we’re proud of you.

There wasn’t a party this year, or a community day with a cast of thousands…