The 53rd National Derby series gets under way on Saturday night with one of the historic race’s biggest upsets being the win by the Steve Cleary-trained Medinah in 2002.
Cleary, currently training the promising sprinter Myalla Monaro, admits he entered Medinah for the Wentworth Park classic purely Because of the dog’s early speed.
“He was a brilliant front runner and at the time I thought I might as well nominate him Because if a dog is out in front anything can happen.’’
Medinah gave Cleary, now 62, his biggest success in the sport by scoring a shock all-the-way win at double figure odds.
Forty years ago Cleary, a former builder and property manager, was an enthusiastic punter who won enough betting on the dogs to buy his first house.
“At 22 I was a competitive snooker player and was living with my girlfriend Janelle in a flat at Punchbowl,’’ he recalled.
“At Harold Park one night I had four bets for three winners, the first of them a dog called Werombi Red who was a 33/1 ($34) chance.
“I came home winning $22,000 so Janelle and I went out and bought a house at Mount Druitt for $22,500.
“We were soon married but tragically Janelle died of cancer, aged just 33.
“My interest in greyhounds began when I was 13 and would travel by public transport from my family’s home at Bass Hill to visit my uncle, Terry Brand, who trained dogs at Engadine.
“Terry’s best was Come On Muffin, a good stayer, who won several races at Harold Park and later produced a Wyong Oaks winner.
“After I won the money for the house I started training myself, mostly giveaways or broken down dogs which I had fixed up.
“My mentors were Terry Brand and also Abe Vella, who owned the Paul Cauchi-trained greyhounds Victoria’s Luck and Victoria’s Girl.
“Abe was the first person I ever saw manipulating dogs to correct their injuries and he taught me those skills."
It was not long before Cleary himself was chalking up the winners.
“My first winner was a Waverly Supreme greyhound named Fair Supreme, who won a five dollar maiden sweepstakes by a nose at Dapto, while Sea Babe, a stayer, gave me my first success in the city," he said.
“But I secured Medinah through being in the right place at the right time.
“While doing a building job for Bruce and Julie Fletcher, who had Whittaker in last Saturday’s Paws Of Thunder, I enquired about buying a brood bitch.
“Bruce put me onto Jayden Potts, whose bitch Nico’s Dream was available complete with a free service to Ultimate Wish, a smart sprinter the Fletchers had trained.
“I didn’t want to mate Nico’s Dream with Ultimate Wish, who was not a big name stud dog, but Jayden Potts insisted that was part of the deal as we were to divide any litter the bitch might whelp.
“Nico’s Dream’s offspring to Ultimate Wish included Dirty Dishes, who won four from six for me before being sold for good money to WA, as well as Medinah, my 2002 National Derby winner.’’
Apart from a stint at Londonderry, Steve and his partner Sandie Brown have bred, reared and raced their team at WOODSTOCK, 22km from Cowra.
“At present we are training eight greyhounds on a house block but are in the process of buying land nearby where will set up a full training establishment,’’ Cleary said.
“Because our first property in WOODSTOCK was on Myalla Road, we have given many of our dogs the Myalla prefix."
Cleary anmd his partner have some handy chasers in their kennels.
“Best we have at present are Myalla Monaro and his litter sister Myalla Nitro," he said.
“Myalla Nitro is a quick short course specialist but Myalla Monaro will run 520 metres for sure and has a big future Because he is not yet two years old.
“Earlier this month Myalla Monaro won over 450m at Bathurst in 25.85 after giving the leader eight lengths start at one stage.
“As the pacemaker ran sizzling sections Myalla Monaro’s win was outstanding and he will appear at Wentworth Park shortly.’’
Cleary has nothing against city racing but says his rare visits to Wentworth Park have been restricted according to the ability of his dogs.
“It is no use coming all the way to Sydney if your greyhounds aren’t good enough,’’ he says candidly.
“Apart from Medinah and Sea Babe, who was a good stayer, my best has been Bargero, who won the Lismore Future Stars Classic in December 2007.
“Although I don’t get there all that often, Richmond is my favourite track and when it comes to the best I’ve seen I can’t go past Brett Lee and Zoom Top.
“Brett Lee was a brilliant speedster but like anyone who saw her, Zoom Top was unequalled, especially in terms of versatility.’’
