WHEN trainer Brendan Pursell made the transition from harness racing to greyhounds about 18 months ago there may have been some who thought he would find the going tough.
But almost from the outset he showed a talent for the caper and one of his first dogs Lika Whisper put him on the map as a promising mentor.
While Lika Whisper may have lost a bit of his sparkle he has done a brilliant job to win 14 and notch as many minor placings from 35 starts for Pursell.
But a youngster named Gatty Com looks set to take over the mantle as Pursell’s kennel star given his outstanding record since arriving in his care in May.
Gatty Com was unable to win from 17 starts in Victoria prior to crossing Bass Strait, although he had been placed twice at The Meadows and once at Sandown.
But after a month in Pursell’s care the dog made his Tasmanian debut with an impressive win in Launceston.
Three starts later he won in Hobart over 461 metres in a time of 26.11 which was only a couple of lengths off the best of the night (26.01)
In Hobart last night (Thursday) Gatty Com notched his fourth win in succession, leading all the way from box six to score by almost two lengths from Pippi’s Gold with Mr Everywhere a half-length astern.
His time of 26.34 was reasonable for a grade four event but no doubt Pursell will be out to get more improvement in him leading up to the state heats of the National Sprint series for which the dog has been nominated.
Gatty Com (Vapour Whirl-Kirabilli Jessie) has good box manners as a rule and provided he continues to improve the dog could be competitive in the National series.