Tony Duggan is widely considered as one of our most astute trainers but for 20 years the Wyee-based breeder was purely an owner.
Duggan, whose current team includes the highly promising Basque and her litter sister Bluish, bought his first greyhound less than three decades ago at the urging of a friend, Don Haines, who was a bookmaker at the dogs.
"Don fielded at the old PENRITH track and together we bought Rathgar Road, who was trained by Mick Armstrong,'' Duggan recalled. "Rathgar Road was very smart and won the Spring Cup at the now defunct 'Gabba track, then Queensland's number one track.
"He also finished second to Frosty Zulu in the 1989 Association Cup over 720m at Wentworth Park."
Duggan became hooked on the sport as a teenager living in western Sydney.
"As an 18-year-old I lived at Old Mount Druitt and became familiar with the sport through knowing a well known greyhound identity, Reg Scully," he said. "But then I joined the Air Force before establishing my own import and export business so had no time to train them myself.
"It wasn't until I retired in 2000 I was able to get really serious about the training side of the sport.
"After tasting initial success as an owner with Rathgar Road I had approached breeder Paul Wheeler and purchased Barcelona Bale, who was trained for me by John Lye.
"Barcelona Bale reached the final of the Dapto 100,000 Classic and by the end of the 1990s I had ventured into training as a hobby.
"One of my first training successes was with Pekoe Kid, who won 15 races and broke the Richmond 400m record in 1999.
"Around that time I also trained Diesel Chariot, an outstanding PENRITH dog who recorded fastest time in the heats of the Dave Alexander Memorial, one of the major races on the calendar.
"But the Alexander Memorial finals were staged at Wentworth Park and Diesel Chariot just would not perform there.
"He did however win a Melbourne Cup Prelude and finished fourth in a heat of that race at Sandown.
"A friend in Victoria had sold me Diesel Chariot and that dog's sister Aryton Girl.
"She only won a couple of races but became the ancestor of most of my recent winners.
"Because he had so much early speed I was always impressed by Head Honcho so I mated Aryton Girl with that dog and their union produced Formula Queen, who won 12 of 43 starts for me."
Duggan has a simple formula for success.
"I have always looked for dogs which are fast early because that is where you win your races," he said.
"When Formula Queen retired, she was mated with Collision and her offspring included Mckew and Collision">Kid Collision.
"Kid Collision was a Wentworth Park winner who won four of 11 starts while Mckew won first-up at Wenty and from 15 starts in the city recorded four wins and four placings.
"It has been a good dam line because when mated with Big Daddy Cool, Mckew whelped Cloud Ten, Kool Mac and Sass from her first litter."
Those pups have gone on to score some notable results.
"Cloud Ten has had nine wins and two dozen placings from 50 starts and was a finalist in the 2014 Black Top won by Rose Of Galo," Duggan said. "Kool Mac, who has had six wins and nine placings from 29 starts, was a finalist in the 2013 Group 3 Magic Maiden, won by Clockwise and Sass, who has won 11 from 30 races, finished third in the Richmond Cannonball Final early this year.
"Basque, Bluish and an under-rated dog, Bracket Creep, are from Mckew's second litter, sired by Where's Pedro.
"Basque is the quickest and has won in smart times over 400m and 515m at Gosford as well as finishing third at her first WP start, while Bluish has had three wins and four placings from 11 races.
"Bracket Creep has not raced since July due to a setback but has had a win and two seconds from three appearances and if I can get him right he has a bright future.
"Apart from my own breed one of the fastest dogs I've trained was Bullwinkle, who defeated Bye Bye Bucks at Wentworth Park in February, 2012.
"I didn't get Bullwinkle until he was three years old but he reached Free For All class at Wenty.''
Gosford ("because it is close to home'') and Richmond are Duggan's favourite tracks and like most modern day trainers he declares he has never seen a greyhound to equal current champ Fernando Bale.
Tony Duggan has not only been successful in business, and as an owner, breeder and trainer, but also serves the industry officially, having been appointed in January as the Hunter Valley region's NSW Greyhound, Breeders, Owners and Trainers Association director.
