Perseverance is a prerequisite for success in training greyhounds but country trainer Garry Sheather must surely have had his patience thoroughly tested until he won with Thin Little at Young on Saturday.
Thin Little was having her 62nd start when she won a 347m maiden in 20.56, Well outside the day's best time of 19.95.
Sheather, who trains a small team at the tiny village of Bendick Murrell, between Cowra and Young, had registered two seconds and five thirds from 61 races with Thin Little before she broke through for her long awaited first victory on Saturday.
Thin Little, who turns four in October, collected $350 for her win at Saturday's non-TAB fixture, taking her career earnings to $1,110.
The spirit and enthusiasm shown by Sheather is typical of greyhound folk and their commitment to their dogs. Well done Garry!
John and Cath Mellon have been sponsoring races through their Mellcat Cleaning Company at Goulburn, their local track, for the past decade, so they got a special thrill when Mellcat Big Boy broke the 440m track record on Friday.
Trained by Jodie Lord, Mellcat Big Boy scored his second win in four starts with a blistering 24.26 performance, clipping .03sec off the previous best ever Goulburn time, posted by Got To Casino on October 20 last year.
John Mellon said: "We have had Mellcat Big Boy's dam line for several generations and Cath and I bred this dog from our bitch Mellcat Magic, who won at Wentworth Park for us.
"Mellcat Big Boy was a fast dog from day one and when trialling out of the starting boxes for only the third time he clocked 19.70 over 350m at Goulburn, not too far outside the record.
"I trained Mellcat Big Boy for his first two starts, which included a maiden win at Goulburn, but then we decided that if he was to go all the way he needed to be with professional trainers and Jodie Lord and her husband Andy were a logical choice.
"When I was training the dog's dam Mellcat Magic, it was Andy who checked her over and helped me keep her racing and injury free, and then, when she came in season, he advised us to mate her with Raw Ability.
Aussie Infrared won the 2017 Maitland Gold Cup and the now successful stud dog has two sons in Thursday night's 2021 final along with the second reserve.
