Few trainers nominate their first winner as being the pinnacle of their careers but it’s hardly surprising Ken Burnett ranks Are You Watching, his initial success as a trainer, as his highlight.
"The first start Are You Watching had with me as his trainer was in a 2003 Wentworth Park Gold Cup heat and he got the cash as a 40/1 outsider," Ken recalled.
"He beat the boom bitch Bella’s Angel in his heat but she won the final while Are You Watching ran fourth.
"But I was training by trial and error in those days so probably didn’t get the best out of Are You Watching.
"It was still a huge thrill to win a good race with him though because he had been sidelined for six months after tearing his Achilles tendon.
"I owned him and had earlier sent him to Robbie Britton in Melbourne to be trained.
"Are You Watching won over 600 metres at The Meadows for Robbie and he had a good opinion of him but then the dog broke down.
"Are You Watching came home with the forecast he was unlikely to race again.
"I took him to greyhound chiropractor Gary Barnsley who recommended I do daily stretching exercises on the dog’s torn tendon and after six months Are You Watching was not only back in training but winning races.
"I became interested in greyhounds while I was distribution supervisor at Ingham’s Chickens through a workmate, Charlie Azzopardi, having dogs.
"My marriage had just broken up and I was looking for an interest for myself and my kids and the greyhounds seemed a nice hobby.
"Initially I was more interested in owning and rearing dogs than training them, but then I was introduced to a former central Queensland thoroughbred trainer named Jimmy Chel, who was living at Newport.
"He gave me a book on all aspects of animals, told me to read it from cover to cover, and then call him.
"I had a thirst for knowledge, read the book, and every day I would talk to Jimmy about everything from inflammation of the heart, track legs, how to get dogs fit, how to prevent injuries and the best way to extend racing careers through tendon and ligament growth.
"Jimmy was able to apply all his knowledge about thoroughbreds to greyhounds and I later won a lot of races for him with dogs like Chilli Jim and Chilli Pug.
"This marvel is 83 now and living in Sydney.
"While Are You Watching’s Gold Cup heat win was my biggest thrill the greatest disappointment my partner Mandy and I have had came when Dazzling Dancer died.
"She was a litter sister to our very good stayer Black Minx, who has become a top brood bitch, and Dazzling Dancer was destined to be a star on the track and at stud.
"But she got bitten on the throat by what we think was a wasp and died in our arms at the veterinary surgeon’s.
"San Francisco was another good dog I trained but the fastest I’ve had was Double Trigger, who has been racing so well at Wentworth Park recently.
Ken Burnett has been enjoying a great run at Wentworth Park and not surprisingly, that is his favourite track.
"I train Double Trigger for Alison Beavis and her partner Angelo and they also own Suits Us and Stonebrook so have been very supportive.
"Barry Ward, who is on the board of the Bulldogs Leagues Club, is another client and he owns Glama Pak and Stiff Arm.
"But Mandy and I don’t have a lot of big owners or a large team, we just try and do the best with what we’ve got."
When I spoke to Ken Burnett he was recuperating after a short stay in hospital and paid tribute to Mandy who had been "holding the fort" while he was out of action.
