Helen and Walter Simmons, whose rookie stayer Bulletproof Esky ran a great first-up second over 720m at Wentworth Park on Saturday night, could well have become part of the thoroughbred racing rather than the greyhounds code.
Helen grew up around the Warwick Farm stables of her father Ken Cantrell, trainer of champion staying mare Maidenhead, who beat The Dip in the 1963 Sydney Cup at Randwick before finishing third to Galerus and River Seine in the 1963 Metropolitan at the same track.
And Helen’s brother John became a jockey while two other brothers, Peter and Kevin Cantrell, trained thoroughbreds.
But any thoughts Helen had of following the family tradition disappeared 43 years ago when she married Walter, who had become part-owner and co-trainer of his first greyhound as a 16-year-old.
“We had bought a greyhound Because a racehorse was out of our price range and as only one of our group, Michael Houlten, was 18 and old enough to hold a trainer’s licence, he was listed as trainer,’’ Walter recalled.
“But each of us took turns to walk the dog, Crystal Au Gogo, which we had bought as a pup for the then hefty sum of $400.
“We would hand-slip her on the local golf course or at the local park - Things you can’t do now.
“She did well, winning four or five races in the city, and then we had another handy greyhound called Crystal Ruler, who had a lot of toe trouble but won five races.’’
By then Walter was hooked and when they were married Helen happily “switched codes’’ from the horses to the greyhounds.
“Typical of greyhound folk, we spent our wedding anniversary trialling greyhounds,’’ Helen quipped.
“Our first good greyhound we raced together was a brilliant beginner, Swift Pandora, a 23.8kg bitch by Milimsimbi,’’ Walter recalled.
“In 1975 Swift Pandora was virtually unbeatable at Newcastle’s Beaumont Park and also won three in a row on other TAB tracks.
“The long straights at Harold Park didn’t suit her and she was run down and beaten into second place on five occasions there."
It was not long ebfore the couple were enjoying notable success at the bigger tracks.
“Our first city winner was Rapid Rastus at Harold Park in 1978, and this time we did the punters a favour as he was a 6/4 ($2.50) hotpot," Walter said.
“Fastest we have trained was Pawsha, who won in 30.27 at Wentworth Park in 2003 when that time was outstanding, but she had big injury problems and raced only 16 times for four wins.
“And we won two in town with Ima Cannon.’’
The Simmons had a break from the sport when their daughters Jesomine and Collette were born in 1976 and 1978 respectively, with Helen quitting her job as a receptionist and Walter concentrating on his employment as a high school science teacher, a role he enjoyed for 30 years.
“Until recently we have only ever had two greyhounds in work and our most recent city winner was Explosive Ebony, who had two wins and 12 placings at Wentworth Park and won 11 of 48 races,’’ Walter said.
“She recently dropped both hind leg muscles while trialling up the straight and her owners are keeping her as a pet until she comes in season and is mated with Cosmic Rumble.
“Because of Explosive Ebony’s success, Daniel Browne, head of the syndicate which owns her, has insisted on giving us more dogs to train so now we have five in the kennels.
“He also owns the unraced Nuclear Barbecue and Bulletproof Esky, while a group from Kurri Kurri Bowling Club race Keeliah Cannon, and there is also Jamaican Me Run and Gauge This, who was beaten a nose by a head when third in the recent Maitland Future Stars final.’’
Surprisingly, although the distance from their kennels at Greta means they rarely race there, Nowra is Helen Simmons’ favourite track.
And when it comes to the best greyhound they have seen, it comes as no surprise that Helen and Walter agreed the incredibly versatile late 1960s champion Zoom Top was their pick, closely followed by Miss High Lo, winner of the 1973 and ’74 Sydney Cup finals.
