If you scroll through the honour boards of many of Australia’s premier greyhound races, the name Harry Sarkis can be found etched alongside some of the sports most prominent and profound Chasers.
Tenthill Doll is a Golden Easter Egg winner, an Australian Cup champion and Perth Cup victor. A winner of 31 races, an accumulator of more than $380,000 in prizemoney and an AGRA Hall of Fame inductee.
The great Black Aztec won the 1980 Melbourne Cup and the following year took out the G1 Hobart 1000.
More recently and although not in the same class, who could forget Good Juan. The dog that broke the internet in 2020 with one of the most ferocious finishes ever seen at Wentworth Park.
But despite all Sarkis’ success, he had never had a runner in the TAB Million Dollar Chase – until now.
One Smart One, a tried and tested dog with 11-wins to his name, landed with Sarkis after stints with Andy and Jodie Lord and good friend Stephen ‘Tubba’ Arnold down on the South Coast of NSW.
Now he’s headed to the semi-finals of the worlds richest greyhound race after finishing third in Tuesday night’s regional final of the MDC at Gosford.
“I’ve never had a runner in this race so it’s great to finally be part of it. I love big races, if I win it, I’ll be over the moon and that could be my retirement night, the night I give it all away. I’m 74 now you know, not 17 and it’s hard to find a dog capable of winning a race like this but I think this guy can give it a real shake” Sarkis said.
“I knew how good he was trialling, I know he’s a fast animal and trust me, if I had three more weeks up my sleeve I would have had plenty of the $81 on offer,” he said.
One Smart One defied the long odds to qualify behind French Martini and Yuko Girl at Gosford in a sharp time of 29.61.
With Sarkis confident the best is still to come for his newest kennel addition following a rocky start to the partnership.
“I got him ten weeks ago and he was in perfect condition, shiny as all hell he was, but not long after he got really crook, I’m not sure what happened but we had to get his kidneys, liver and blood all tested and it flattened him. It’s taken a while to get him back up and I think if he didn’t get crook and I got him into my place six weeks earlier he might have beaten that mob last night,” Sarkis said.
“I told the owners a couple of weeks ago that he’s a month away from his best so I think there’s still improvement to come. I told them I’d throw him in this [the MDC] hoping I can get him through but also knowing he’s got plenty left in him. I was happy with the run obviously and the owners are ecstatic. He’s gone from running fourths and thirds in lesser races over the last few months to running top three in a race like this, it’s great,” he said.
The son of Nana Road by Barcia Bale has now had five runs for the Sarkis kennel following a four-month layoff - with last night’s effort knocking 0.33 off his previous Gosford 515m personal best.
And despite the big improvement, Sarkis seems confident he has the experience and knowledge required to take the dog to a whole new level.
He’s still a long way away from winning the thing but don’t discount him, I’ve just got to improve his conditioning and keep him fit. He gave them a scare last night but he just wasn’t strong enough late. I’ll take him to Appin now to prepare him for the big race,” Sarkis said.
“I won’t be racing him before the semi-finals. I have a program I follow for big races and I stick to it no matter what. I’ve always said if you think you’ve got a dog that can win the race, go for it. If I didn’t think he was a chance we wouldn’t be wasting our time. We just need him to draw well and stay sound. If he draws box eight [in the semi-final] I reckon he can improve by three or four lengths so watch out” he said.
