When Gary Robertson made what was in 1969 a 15-hour round trip from Annandale to Wauchope with his first starter Silver Cello and drove home with a winner he was "hooked'' on the sport for life.
And since moving to Williamtown, north of Newcastle, 36 years ago, Gary and wife Eileen have been among the Hunter region's leading breeders and trainers.
Their short course dog Nine Tenths scored his sixth win in 12 starts when he won over 280m at Wentworth Park last Wednesday night and at this stage is arguably the star of their team, which comprises a dozen race dogs and five youngsters.
"My grandfather and father, both christened Albert, were greyhound trainers but were out of dogs before I was born in 1951, Robertson said. "I guess the sport is in my blood.
"Dad had a breeding and rearing farm at Box Hill, on the way to Richmond, but a strike at the local abattoirs in 1948 meant he could no longer afford to feed his greyounds.
"My first greyhound Silver Cello was a gift to us from owner John Westbrook, whose dogs were trained by Jimmy McGlinn, part of the Living Legends promotion at The Gardens a fortnight ago.
"Silver Cello was the first runner I had and won at his first start for me at Wauchope.
"I began my working life in 1966 as a copy boy at the Sydney Morning Herald but soon transferred to the company's Sungravure offices at Rosebery.
"There one of my workmates there was Sammy Flevill, who trained litter sisters Osti Too and Fantasy Lady, champion stayers of the early 1970s.
"Sammy gave me invaluable advice on training and when Eileen and I moved onto three acres at Williamtown the late Ray Bruderlin was our mentor.
"Like many people we reduced our team when we began a family but Eileen was still exercising greyhounds around the streets of Annandale in 1974 a few hours before she gave birth to first child, Peter."
The couple scored their first city winner with Bert Robbo in December 1998 and have enjoyed plenty of success since.
"He won 14 races but he wasn't our best greyhound," Robertson said. "Rachael Robbo, now in pup to Glen Gallon, gets that honour as she won 17 races between May 2009 and July 2010.
"She was a brilliant beginner, a real flying machine who was undefeated in six races over 515m at Gosford.
"Another smart greyhound we trained was Dido, who won 16 races between January 2005 and April 2007.
"Dido's owner wanted to call his greyhound Lunatic Magpie, after someone in his footy club, and when he asked me how he could guarantee that name I told him to write Lunatic Magpie as first preference, and put 'ditto' down as the next five choices.
"He apparently misunderstood me because he wrote 'Dido' five times and that was the name the greyhound was stuck with!"
Robertson said he and Eileen had enjoyed their time in greyhound racing.
"We have not been blessed with any champions but we have enjoyed every minute of our involvement in the sport, due mainly to the wonderful people we have met," he said.
"Even the leading trainers are invariably ready to pass on their knowledge because early this year we had a bad virus go through our place. We turned to leading trainer Jason Mackay for help and it was his advice which helped us straighten things out.
"Our favourite track is The Gardens as we can educate our 'babies' there and because of its shape we can take young race dogs directly from there to Wentworth Park.
"When it comes to the best I've seen I am a little different to most who usually plump for one of the famous greyhounds of the past or present.
"My favourite will always be Osti Too. Because she was such a wide runner, she would race around the outside fence at Harold Park, even on the bends, and still break 43 seconds for the 732 metres trip.''
