Greyhound trainers often lead interesting lives away from the sport but few have had such a diverse career as 73-year-old Ivan Thelander.
Thelander, based at Greenacre, has won 13 races including a Wentworth Park win late last month with Cosmic Ben, the only dog he has in work.
At 16 Ivan Thelander was in Sydney newspaper headlines after being among five survivors of nine teenagers who became trapped in a Leura bushfire which was raging through the Blue Mountains.
"Watching four of my mates perish in that fire scarred me," Thelander recalled. "For years I couldn't talk about it.
"It was only after I became involved with greyhounds that I was able to get over the trauma because there was no counselling in those days.
"We were all simply sent back to school as if nothing had happened."
Thelander, who grew up in Belmore, became interested in the sport about a year after that tragic incident.
"I met Cliff Abrahams, one of the leading trainers of his era, who lived nearby at Lakemba,'' Thelander recalled.
"It wasn't long before I was exercising Cliff's dogs and among the greyhounds I cared for were Mimosa Cliff and Mimosa Rocket, who took out the quinella in a Hobart Maiden Thousand in the 1960s.
"Both Mimosa Cliff, who went to stud in America, and Mimosa Rocket became top graders at Harold and Wentworth Parks.
"I became a printer and a bookbinder by trade but was willing to have a 'go' at anything and during the 1960s I also worked at Jimmy Sharman's boxing tent shows.
"Sharman's father, also Jim, established his boxing tents in 1911 and used to visit 45 to 50 shows each year.
"His son, who I worked for, took over in 1955 and kept them going until 1971 when regulations prevented boxers fighting more than once a week.
"Sharman had his own group of former professionals and would offer a pound or two ($2 or $4) to any member of the public who could last two rounds in the ring with one of his boxers.
"Before the fights started Sharman's boxers would be in front of the tent banging drums while I circulated through the crowd trying to persuade some of the locals to try their luck in the ring.
"Bill Stanley, Max Simpson, Roy Bell, Billy McDonnell and even Alfie Sands, the brother of the great Dave Sands, were fighters I came in contact with while working for Sharman.''
Others who fought in the Sharman tent included Doug Nicholls, an Aboriginal pastor who became Governor of South Australia and George Bracken, who was later inducted to Australian Boxing's Hall Of Fame.
Bill Mullins, who played 190 first grade rugby league games for Eastern Suburbs (now the Sydney Roosters), owed his career to Thelander.
"I was involved with Belmore Old Boys' under 18 C grade side and Mullins, who was an outstanding runner, decided he would like to play football in the Canterbury-Bankstown junior rugby league competition,'' said Thelander.
"When Mullins arrived at Belmore he didn't even know how to play the ball so it was left to me to teach him as much about rugby league as I could.''
Mullins became so good he signed with Eastern Suburbs in 1968 and retired 10 years later as the club's leading tryscorer with 104 touchdowns.
"While Cliff Abrahams was my greyhound mentor, I trained Lizzie's Brother, who won at Harold Park and was my first winner, for Kevin Pearce of Bathurst,'' Thelander said.
"He is now the trainer of Bass Louder, who has won 16 races including two at Wentworth Park, while my wife Margaret and I have long been friends with Kevin and Yvonne Johnson, famous breeders from Wherrols Flat, near Taree.
"Kevin Johnson sold us Faithful Tourist for only $300 and we won 15 races with that dog, who was a WYONG straight track specialist.
"Because of our long friendship Kevin also sold us Cosmic Ben, our current greyhound, for the bargain basement price of $4000 when the dog was ready to race and trialling well.''
Coonamble and Taree are the surprise nominations as the favourite tracks of Ivan and Margaret, his wife of 48 years, while they plump for the immortal Zoom Top and Bonnie Rikasso, a multiple winner and track record holder for Kevin Johnson, as their all-time best greyhounds.
