A life in greyhound racing can start in the most unusual ways - as Peter and Beverley Sweeney can attest.
The couple have enjoyed plenty of success in the sport over the years, yet their adventure started with a trip to the newsagent.
“One morning Beverley went up the road to buy a loaf of bread and came home with a copy of the Greyhound Recorder,’’ Peter recalled.
“She decided to buy an 18-month-old unraced, unnamed dog for $800 and intended to ask Susan McDermott, race caller John’s wife, to train the greyhound.
“Then Beverley decided to have a shot at training the dog herself and we called it Salscode Grand, after our children Sally, Scott and Deanne.
“I suppose for $800 Salscode Grand was never going to be a star but we had a lot of fun with him and he ran six placings in 20 races."
It was not long before the winners started to roll in more frequently for the canny couple.
“Our first winner was Pyfo Mac, who won 12 races for us," Peter said. "His sister Wattle Street also won a dozen.
“We learned a lot from the late Duncan Dart, who taught me the technique of checking greyhounds for soreness or injuries.
“Then we began training for Glen Pearce, the brother of champion footballer Wayne Pearce, and Glen’s dog All Revved Up gave us our first city success, winning twice at Wentworth Park.
“Another smart dog we trained for Glen was Kendall Osti, who won seven of 23 starts and filled seven placings at Wenty.
“We also trained around 40 winners for successful breeder Johnny Staines while we won races at Wentworth Park with Exceptional Echo and Dashing Della."
Peter had other work commitments but it became clear that they would have to take a back seat to greyhounds.
“I was employed drilling for coal but after going on holidays in 1996 I didn’t go back to work," he said.
Among the couple's current quintet of chasers in work in Schooner Doll, who has won a dozen races and clocked 29.83 at Wentworth Park.
“At present Bev and I have five greyhounds in work and train them with free galloping on the Redhead trial track, which is 15 minutes from our place," he said.
“For some reason the greyhounds Bev and I have trained have been more suited to two turn courses like The Gardens rather than a track like Maitland, so Wentworth Park is our favourite.’’
When asked to nominate their all-time great, the Sweeneys nominated Tenthill Doll, who won the 1995 and ’96 NSW Greyhound of the Year awards.
Peter, who said he was once being a big punter himself, once placed $6000 on Tenthill Doll at odds of $1.80 in one of her wins at Wentworth Park.
