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  • Wednesday, 17 Feb, 2021,
  • by Peter Quilty

Track record and a Trifecta for Rod Clark

Oriental Amber was a ‘gem’, breaking Horsham’s 410-metre track record yesterday.

Trained by Rod Clark (pictured inset), the “Toolleen Tornado” semaphored a sparkling 22.64sec – slicing 0.02sec off the previous mark of 22.66sec, set by Benchester on November 10 last year.

A greyhound with abundant ‘cut and polish’, Oriental Amber ($2.30F) led in a kennel trifecta defeating Helen’s Memory ($3.20) by 7.51L, with litter sister Oriental Jade ($6.30) a further 0.56L away third.

And Clark wasn’t surprised on two fronts: the record and the trifecta.

“She’s the real deal… I thought she’d eventually pinch a record”

“She’s the real deal… I thought she’d eventually pinch a record,” he said.

Oriental Amber’s previous best time over 410m at Horsham was 22.96sec on January 5. However, Clark had a valid explanation for her ‘five-length’ improvement.

“The track had been harrowed a few days earlier and there was a strong southerly blowing… Actually, the time shocked the pants off me as I would have been happy with a 23.20sec run,” he said.

And, as for the trifecta (which paid $18.90), Clark says “the whole three are quality dogs”.

WATCH: Oriental Amber (8) clocks a sizzling new 410m track record of 22.64sec at Horsham.

“Oriental Amber is desperate for the fence and she came across from box eight and ‘cleaned up’ my other two. So, for them to claw their way back into the race was brilliant.”

And he added: “She’s got explosive pace after 10 metres and is a fanatical chaser… That’s what makes her what she is.”

Owned by the Bart’s syndicate, managed by Nigel Hebart, Oriental Amber (Dec ’18 Aston Dee Bee x Oriental Jewel) has won 14 races from 27 starts and $28,555 in prizemoney.

Clark says Oriental Amber has earned a tilt at GRV’s inaugural ‘Western Festival of Racing’ (March-May), which encompasses four G2 country cups – Horsham, Ballarat, Geelong and Warrnambool.

Oriental Amber with handler Maddi O’Neill after her track record win.

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.

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