Margaret and Paul Quarrell were stoked when they won a heat of the Eric Thomson Memorial Maiden at Albion Park on Wednesday of last week.

            The win by debutant Sarah’s Spirit gives Paul as owner and his mother Margaret as trainer a runner in this Thursday night’s $10,000 to the winner final. But they won’t be the only people celebrating if Sarah’s Spirit can figure in the finish.

            Sarah’s Spirit is named for seven years old Sarah Kruger, a friend of the Quarrell family.

            ‘’I went to school with Geoff Kruger and after many years, we were reunited and became good mates,’’ Paul explained.

            ‘’Geoff’s daughter Sarah copes with cerebal palsy. We decided to name a greyhound for her and donate a percentage of any prizemoney won to the family. Hopefully, that will give them a helping hand. It was fantastic that Sarah was able to go to Albion Park last week to see the win.’’

            Sarah’s Spirit (pictured with connections) is totally home bred. She is by Premier Chief out of Kathie’s Recall. The Quarrell family bred and raced the sire and dam. Paul says that Sarah’s Spirit is the best of the litter at this stage.

‘’She was born with an unusually shaped tail which plenty of people have commented on. Her win last week was very good, pushing through the pack from box seven. We would have liked a rails draw for the final but have come up with box six. The fastest heat winner Rozelle Flash has box five and another quick winner Stop Scrammin’ is in box eight. Our bitch is very handy and would chase through a brick wall.’’

            Sarah’s Spirit won her heat of the Eric Thomson in 30.42. The quickest heat winner was Darren Russell’s Rozelle Flash in 30.18. Stop Scrammin’ for Dave Irwin ran 30.25.

            The Eric Thomson series is named for the former patron of the Gold Coast Greyhound Racing Club and has been run since 1986. The race was conducted for three years at the old Southport track in Queen Street, then from 1989 to 2008 at Gold Coast Parklands and since 2009, at Albion Park.

            Jeans Work for Di Buxton was the winner last year. One of the more memorable winners when the race was run at Parklands was Lucy’s Light in 2005. Trained by Elaine Williamson, Lucy’s Light went on to become one of Queensland’s top stayers of all time.

 

Story by Paul Dolan, photo by Corey Pearce.