Noelene Holloway’s name constantly appears in the Wentworth Park racebooks yet the trainer of NSW Distance Championship winner Queen Marina and prolific city winner Queen Esther had no interest in greyhounds until August 2006.
“I grew up around greyhounds as my parents, Joan and George Singline, owned a breaking in establishment at WYONG North,’’ Holloway said. “And along with my four sisters, Lorraine, Carole, Rhonda and Jenny, I often lent mum and dad a hand when things got busy.
“But when I married Kevin Holloway he was not interested in greyhounds and by then neither was I.
“I worked for Westpac and helped Kevin run his swimming pool business but After 20 years’ marriage we got divorced.’’
The divorce triggered the launch of the greyhound training career of Noelene, a devout Christian.
“I was leaving WYONG Anglican Church on a Sunday morning in August, 2006 and I heard God telling me to go visit my sister Lorraine,’’ Holloway said.
“When I arrived at Lorraine’s she asked me if there was any chance I would be interested in looking at a new litter of puppies she had on her property.
“I picked up this tiny puppy, not even knowing if it was a dog or a bitch, and Lorraine offered it to me as a gift.
“That puppy turned out to be Fascinate Marina, who won a dozen races and over $48,000 prizemoney and who, from her first litter, produced Queen Marina, Queen Esther, King Sapphire, Fascinate Mary, Zac Marlow and Mike Marlow.
“Mum owned a bitch puppy named Joan’s Ruby at the time so I reared her and Fascinate Marina together at WYONG, where I was living.
“When it came time to train Fascinate Marina I took advice from lots of different people and would get her fit on my sister Lorraine Atchison’s straight track.
“Lorraine’s property at Jilliby is only 15 minutes from my place at Hamlyn Terrace, which is North WYONG, and she lets me use the excellent facilities she has available.
“After acquiring Fascinate Marina I received Go Wild Jan as a gift and when she won a 400m heat and final at The Gardens for me the trophy was a free service to Lochinvar Marlow.
“Go Wild Jan’s winning times were both very slow, 23.66 and 23.42, but I was able to use the Lochinvar Marlow service when Fascinate Marina came in season, and that’s how I acquired Queen Esther, Queen Marina and their siblings."
Holloway said she tried to have a textbook approach to training successful greyhounds.
“There is a lot of common sense to training greyhounds but most important is that each dog is different so you must become aware of their individual traits and train them all differently,' she said.
“For example King Sapphire takes longer to recover After a run so his racing has to be spaced and I’ve found Fascinate Mary can’t get the 520m at Wentworth Park so I’m switching her back to sprinting.
“Queen Esther has won 11 races at Wentworth Park and over $88,000 prizemoney but she is a real ‘one woman’ greyhound.
“When Queen Marina won the right to represent NSW in the National Distance Championship in Perth on August 23, I had to organise for a friend to handle Queen Esther when she contested the heats of the Black Top at The Gardens on August 22.
“But Queen Esther fretted for me, missed the start badly and went poorly in her Black Top heat, something she never does.
“I was back at The Gardens to handle Queen Esther in the Black Top Consolation on August 29 and she won in 29.34 - the fastest time of the day."
Holloway enjoyed her trip to the Nationals in Perth earlier this year although she said she was delighted to have taken the single greyhound.
“It was a huge thrill taking Queen Marina to Perth for the National Distance Championship but to be honest I was relieved when Queen Esther didn’t qualify for the National Sprint Championship there," the trainer said.
“Knowing Queen Esther as I do, I don’t think she would have coped with the long plane trip to Western Australia, whereas for Queen Marina it was all in a day’s work.’’
Holloway has two sons, Graeme, 28, and Benjamin, 27, and while they occasionally watch mum’s greyhounds on television they have no desire to become trainers.
But Noelene’s parents George, 91, and Joan, 86, are still enjoying good health and they have eight grandsons and seven grand-daughters so their heritage within the sport seems assured.
And Noelene is likely to be seen at her favourite track, Wentworth Park, for some time to come as her super brood bitch Fascinate Marina has a 13-month-old litter to Spring Gun and is in whelp again to Lochinvar Marlow.
