Group Winner Lucy Lobster Retired

By Jeff Collerson

Recurring foot injuries have forced the premature retirement on Lucy Lobster, winner of the 2014 Group 1 Vic Peters Classic.

She has been sent to the breeding barn after winning 12 of just 24 starts for the Sweet Lady Punt Syndicate and Newcastle trainer Charlie Lamb.

Hays Bailey, head of the syndicate which bought Lucy Lobster at three months of age for $12,000, said he hoped she could breed with champion Fernando Bale.

"In August we sent her to Robbie Britton in Melbourne, who trained her dam One Tree Hill for Charlie Lamb," he said. 

"She won first-up at Sandown, but after she finished unplaced there and at The Meadows at her next two starts last month we were advised to retire her because the metacarpal and sesamoid foot problems were continuing to hamper her.

"Now we are seeking a straw from Fernando Bale because our dream now is to breed a litter by that dog from Lucy Lobster.''

After Lucy Lobster won the Vic Peters Classic on November 1 her owners, trainer Charlie Lamb and his wife Lisa - and the greyhound - spent the night at a five star waterfront hotel at The Rocks.

"Pier One is pet friendly and it was pretty cool walking Lucy Lobster through the foyer of such a posh hotel after her Classic win,'' Hays Bailey recalled.

Lucy Lobster certainly has the bloodlines to become a supermum as she is by the great Brett Lee from One Tree Hill, winner of the 2008 Group 1 Paws Of Thunder.

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Nitrous Zues's win in the Linda Downey Stakes at Potts Park last Saturday held special significance for the greyhound racing community.

The dog's owner, Darren Hearne, secured Nitrous Zues after purchasing a straw of stud dog Lochinvar Marlow at an auction held at Wentworth Park in May 2011, to raise funds for the family of former chief steward James Perry.

Perry had been killed 100 days earlier when flood waters roared through parts of Queensland.

"The straw was used on my mate Shane Pearce's greyhound Jet Fan and she subsequently whelped 13 puppies,'' Hearne said.

"I had first pick of the litter and chose Nitrous Zues when he was two hours old!

"Nitrous Zues has now had two wins and three placings from 15 starts and to win today during the Bankstown City Cup meeting is the thrill of a lifetime.''

Nitrous Zues's race was named in honour of the mayor of Bankstown, who gave up her Saturday afternoon to attend the Potts Park meeting and present the Cup to Chris Nutt, part-owner of winner Ritza Rossi.

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Spritely Dancer will tackle the Group 3 Nowra Spring Puppy Classic heats on September 28 following his sensational win at Wentworth Park last Wednesday night.

Trained at Camden by Anne Hector, the 23 month old Spritely Dancer took his record to six wins from 13 starts with a sizzling 29.85 fifth grade performance.

The display featured which produced an outstanding run home time of 11.67.

Spritely Dancer is owned by his trainer and Mick Player, who bought the dog after he had been educated.

"Anne is always on hand to help me with my greyhounds so after I bought Spritely Dancer I gave her a half share in him,'' Player said.

"She is able to devote more time to her dogs than I am able to, in fact she is so thorough she does everything but sleep alongside them.

"Spritely Dancer trialled 29.65 over 520m at Nowra a couple of weeks back and came from near last to win in 30.35 in pouring rain on a bog track at his last start before Wednesday's Wenty win.

"Wednesday's race was a heat so he will now tackle this week's final at Wentworth Park and then Anne will get him ready for the Nowra Puppy Classic, for which the dog is paid up.''

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Estranged, who smashed the Wentworth Park 280m record on Wednesday night, had to be reared by trainer Luke Azzopardi after continually jumping fences and escaping from his original home.

Bought as a puppy by David Brokenshire, Estranged was sent to a property on the NSW Central Coast to be raised.

"Not long after he got there the owner of the property told David to come and get him because the dog kept jumping over fences and getting out of his yard,'' Azzopardi said.

"So I brought him to my place at Londonderry and reared him there.

"Estranged clocking 15.74 and breaking the record on Wednesday didn't surprise me because he holds the Wenty first split record in 520m races and has always been a very fast dog.

"But he does everything at a hundred miles an hour and his over-the-top nature often causes him to miss the start.

"Because he was in race 11 on Wednesday I put a compression suit on him and he settled down in the kennels a lot better than he has previously.

"His next start will be in a $3000 297m race at next Friday night's Megastar meeting at Dapto.''