Fast dog a major winner

SARGENT Major ran the fourth-fastest time ever recorded over the 715-metre circuit at Sandown last week to win his heat of the City of Dandenong stayers’ classic.
The star greyhound ran 42 seconds flat to win the race by almost 20 lengths.
Prepared by Lauren Gorman, daughter of master mentor Peter Giles, Sargent Major started from box three to lead the field to the first turn and continued to extend his margin to down On Just Terms, with the consistent Mixed Up Mary a further four lengths away in third place.
Despite having his first look at the track, Sargent Major ran within 0.2 of a second of Total Denial’s long-standing Sandown Park 715m track record of 41.8 seconds.
In other greyhound racing news, Sandown Greyhound Racing Club track foreman Adam Bailey notified the club of his intention to pursue other employment opportunities after three decades of service.
During his time at the club, Bailey developed a reputation as one of the leading trackmen in the country, consistently producing racing conditions of the highest quality.
Dave Humphries, who has acted in an assistant’s capacity to Bailey for the past three years, has moved into the permanent role of track curator.
The club also announced it will no longer schedule marathon events of more than 958 metres as part of its annual racing calendar.
The committee had little choice in light of ongoing problems with regard to the number and quality of nominations, which have resulted in lopsided races and occasional event cancellations.
The club has committed to an additional four ‘best eight’ staying events over the 715 course, conducted at Free For All prizemoney levels, in lieu of the four marathons that had been scheduled for this year.