A spell as a hairdresser proved the eventual spur for Bob Littlefield's training career - and since then he has been a cut above most out there.
Littlefield, back at Wentworth Park with two qualifiers in last Wednesday's Dubbo To Wenty Final, trained four of the finest stayers of the modern era.
His top-notch greyhounds included the 2006 NSW Greyhound of the Year Royal Riddle.
But Littlefield's introduction to greyhound racing was prompted by his ownership of a slow racehorse when he was 17 years old.
"I rode trackwork at ORANGE racecourse from when I was 12 years old until I was 17 when a friend and I bought a thoroughbred, Foaming Amber.
"It didn't win a race, so we bought a greyhound which we also called Foaming Amber, and it had no ability either.
"But after leaving school I had become a barber and one day a local orchardist came in for a haircut and offered me a three-year-and-a-half year old greyhound he had running around his orchard.
"The dog, Lager Top, had not raced for six months but I decided to take him and he won his first six races in a row.
"Nobody advised me about training but having played a lot of football I knew about conditioning and the rest was using common sense.
"That was 49 years ago and I have seldom been without a greyhound since, but always as a hobby trainer.
"I was a barber for 12 years, then had a crack at being a slaughterman, concreter, brickie's labourer and until I had a heart attack and retired in March was employed for 30 years with an energy company."
His good stayers came when he bred from Merbentyl, who certainly proved a wonderful dam.
"When I mated her with Arctic Light, she produced Monkey Jill, a Paws Of Thunder finalist for the late Ray Pringle, and Shalom City, my first top notcher, along with Narara City, another top class stayer of mine," Littlefield said.
"Shalom City made the final of the 1979 National Distance Championship, won by Mary Marella on the old OLYMPIC PARK track in Melbourne, and at her first Wentworth Park long-distance start she clocked 42.70, which remained the fastest time ever recorded in a fourth grade over 722m on the grass surface.
"Narara City finished third to the great National Lass in the 1985 Summer Cup final over 732m at Harold Park, in a lineup which was declared at the time to be the strongest field of stayers ever assembled.
"At stud Shalom City producd Shady City, who gave me my biggest thrill in the sport when she toppled Victoria's champion Bold Trease in a 732m match race at Harold Park in 1987.
"Bold Trease won four successive Sandown Cups, from 1986 to 1989, and a massive crowd turned out to cheer Shady City, the greyhound from ORANGE.
"We beat Bold Trease but to be fair Shady City caught him at a weak moment.
"Bold Trease had been on the lead for 10 days while Shady City was very fit and had broken the PENRITH long distance record in a trial on the eve of the match race."
Littlefield also has wonderful memories of the trophy presentation.
"The trophy was presented to me by Jerome Coffee, an American boxer who was in Sydney to fight Jeff Fenech," Littlefield said.
"When Coffee congratulated me he had the softest, weakest handshake and I thought to myself, 'how is this bloke going to beat Fenech?' (Fenech did indeed win).
"During Shady City's career Brisbane's old Gabba track regularly featured 1000m marathon race and she was unbeatable in those, she would win them by 10 or 12 lengths.
"I got Royal Riddle through a draw out of a hat.
"Mick Blissett had trained a greyhound named Nicka Nicka for me. When she came in season I paid the service fee and Mick's mate Gary Perkins whelped the pups and looked after them until they were three months old.
"The deal was Gary and I would divide the litter so we put all their earbrands in a hat and I drew out Royal Riddle!"
That twist of fate certainly proved a happy one for Littlefield.
"He broke the race record in the 2005 Sydney Cup and won the 2005 Summer Cup and 2006 Wentworth Park Gold Cup before being named Greyhound of the Year," Littlefield said.
"His son Royal Pink was handy and won six races.
"My best prospect at present is Garney Lane, who I started in last Thursday's heats of the Dapto Maiden Classic."
Littlefield has seen plenty of greyhounds in his time and rates National Lass the best.
"I never saw Zoom Top but National Lass could beat the best sprinters and stayers in Australia over all distances," he said.
"Currently Fernando Bale is obviously the standout and when it comes to favourite tracks, Harold Park was the pick.
"Since it closed I could not go past Richmond as the best.''
