Michelle and Michael Jones are not yet household names in the greyhound world like fellow breeders Marty Hallinan and Brendan Wheeler but their achievement in breeding seven finalists in Saturday night's trio of group one and two races at Wentworth Park would be difficult to top.
They bred and sold both Blazing Cartier, a finalist in the Group 2 Summer Distance Plate and Group 1 Ladbrokes National Derby qualifier Supersound, while five of their greyhounds, which they bred but still own, are also engaged in the feature events on Saturday's monster card at Wentworth Park.
Teddy The Bear, trained for the Jones family by Christine Proctor, is their Derby candidate while their trio of finalists in the Group 1 Ladbrokes National Futurity, all trained by David Smith, are Ice Cream Story, Me Me Mia and Super Estrella.
Prim And Proper, another greyhound they bred, is also in David Smith's kennel and has made the Group 2 Summer Distance Plate final.
"We breed and rear our puppies on 30 acres at Nabiac, south of Taree, but with the occasional exception we might make for a special friend, we raise only our own greyhounds,'' Michael Jones said.
"I got hooked on greyhounds when I was 12 years old because one of my friends had parents who loved going to the races at Richmond and Wentworth Park and would let me tag along with them and their son.
"When I turned 20 I bought my first greyhound and around the same time I met Michelle, whose family raced dogs, so we were perfectly matched.
"I'm 44 now and we started our breeding and rearing business 20 years ago."
