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  • Monday, 02 May, 2022,
  • by Peter Quilty

‘Hoodoo’ gurus

‘Team Gibbons’ will be attempting to break a Group final jinx when they chase a G3 double at Wentworth Park on Saturday night.

Based at Avalon, husband-and-wife Daniel and Rebecca Gibbons have endured a frustrating run in ‘black type’ events but that could all end with June ’20 Feral Franky x Ethla Allen littermates McKeon Bale and Quinlan Bale.

McKeon Bale ($2.30EF) – named after champion swimmer Emma McKeon – qualified for the Ladies Bracelet final (520m) with a strong 30.07sec heat win, while Quinlan Bale ($4.00) also clocked a 30.07sec heat success in booking a Bob Payne Sprint final berth. Both events carry a $25,000 first prize.

McKeon Bale – which was a 29.28sec (Best) Sandown Park winner at her previous start – notched her sixth win from 12 starts, while Quinlan Bale – which was a recent G3 Mount Gambier Cup finalist – registered his fifth win from nine starts.

Quinlan Bale with Daniel Gibbons after a 30.18sec win at The Meadows on April 20.

Both have fared well in the box draws for both finals – McKeon Bale (Box 1) and Quinlan Bale (Box 3). McKeon Bale ($4.00) is on the third line of TAB fixed odds betting while Quinlan Bale ($3.00) is favourite for his final.

‘Team Gibbons’ were represented by their kennel-hand Dallan Klemke in Sydney.

“She is a very good bitch who had box four in her heat, and box one in the final will suit her perfectly,” Klemke told Jeff Collerson from thedogs.com.au.

Pawnote: The Gibbons’ – former pro-wrestlers – also get the chance to put a ‘camel clutch’ on the curse when Jerwood Bale lines up in the G2 Warrnambool Cup on Wednesday night.

WATCH: MCKEON BALE (3) makes a real ‘splash’ at Sandown Park on April 21.

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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