Winning Double Reignites Old Combination

RUTH King landed a winning treble at Dapto on Thursday night and renewed an association with the Gordon family that was at strength a quarter of a century ago.

Ruth's treble was landed by Lochinvar Lona, Margie Irene and Wicked Spartan.

It followed the victory at Bulli on Wednesday night by Lochinvar Jazz.

Lona and Jazz are owned by Kevin Gordon's daughters Karla and Clare.

“Ray and I have always stayed great friends with Kevin and his family,” Ruth said.

“But Kevin lives in Newcastle and his dogs were trained locally by Robert Smith. Unfortunately, Robert passed away recently and that's when Kevin asked me to take on these two young dogs owned by his daughters.”

Lochinvar Lona (Fernando Bale-Precious Sal) won his maiden in 30.24 at Dapto on debut and Ruth says he is a “pretty handy dog” with a bright future.

“He went up with the lids last night which cost him time,” Ruth said. “But he has brilliant speed and we expect him to keep improving. He's not that strong at this stage but that will come with time.

“He is a real professional; really keen.”

Lochinvar Jazz (Kinloch Brae x Natural Rhythm) won a 472 metre maiden at Bulli in 26.90 on Wednesday to reignite the Gordon/King association first-up for more than 20 years.

The last greyhound the combination raced was former star chaser Lochinvar Jet which won a swag of races in the early 2000s.

On a red-letter night for King at Dapto, Margie Irene (Fernando Bale-Peal's Legacy) claimed the maiden final in 30.15 to remain unbeaten in two starts but was quick to point out the trouble her litter brother Asiram found in running when finishing third.

“There is not much between them but Asiram looked pretty unlucky in the run last night,” Ruth said.

The final leg of last night's treble was Wicked Spartan (Fernando Bale-Bit Wicked) which won a middle distance event over 600m in 34.40.

“That's the third of those $5000 races he's won now,” she added.

“He's a lovely dog which is really suited by the rails and once he gets onto the fence he is hard to beat.

“We are not sure whether he will run out 700 metres, but while they keep putting on these 600 metre races worth $5000 he can stay in them.

"It's been a huge benefit to the industry in NSW."