Keilor Gift victory continues hot season

Runners in the heats of the Keilor Gift explode out of their starting blocks. (Damian Visentini)

Craig Foley is the king of Keilor after the speedster won the Keilor Gift on Saturday, burning up the track in 12.6 seconds.

Starting with a handicap of 12.5 metres, Foley was able to see off a host of challengers as the finish line approached.

Storming home behind him was one of the back markers, Brett Richards.

Starting from 6.75 metres, Richards flew to the line to claim second, finishing 0.1 of a second behind Foley. Cam Dunbar was 0.4 further back in third.

For Foley, the victory continued what has been a solid summer at the Brimbank-based gifts.

KEILOR GIFT PICTURE GALLERY

He also claimed a third-place finish at the St Albans Gift in the 70-metre open event.

Meanwhile, in the women’s event at the Keilor meeting, Julia Phillips chased down a number of front runners to claim the 120-metre final, known as the Billie Jo Petersen Memorial.

Phillips recovered from her 6.5-metre handicap and was able to hold off a fast-finishing Kayla Bunevicius at the line. Phillips finished in a time of 14.17 seconds, 0.5 ahead of Bunevicius.

Saturday’s running of the Keilor Gift was the 67th in the event’s history.

Another highlight on the day was the wood chopping.

More than 70 axemen entered this year’s events, with the finals thrilling the crowds on the main stage during the meeting’s night session.

For a photo gallery of the Keilor Gift meeting, go to starweeklyphotos.fotomerchant.com/portfolio