John and Judith Richardson, who have collected 19 Wentworth Park prize money cheques in recent months with their two dog team of Ace I Am and Young Gun, received their start in the sport through a giveaway.
Their 1990s gift greyhound, Electra Bale, came from none other than the world's leading owner-breeder, Paul Wheeler.
"Paul gave her to us for breeding purposes and what a producer Electra Bale turned out to be,'' exclaimed John.
"Of her first litter of 11, sired by Antiquity, nine went to top grade and included Electric Jewel, winner of the Nowra Puppy Classic, Electric Opal, winner of 12 races, and Electric Rambler, who could run but was a fickle chaser.
"Electric Rambler wouldn't go past the leader and notched up 20 second placings but that trait was corrected to a large extent and the greyhound went on to win a dozen races.
"From that first litter we sold Byamee Model to south coast trainer Garry Edwards and she became the grand-dam of Garry's champion track record breaking bitch More Space.
"Electra Bale's second litter, sired by Mountain Red, included Electric Pace, which we raced in partnership with Barry Campbell and who was another Nowra Puppy Classic winner, and Elroma, which we sold to the late Ron Holland for $800 at 12 months of age.
"Elroma won seven races at Wentworth Park and was a National Futurity finalist.
"We mated Electra Bale with MALAWI's Prince for her third mating and the star offspring was Electric Ice, who won 15 races including heats and finals at Moss Vale and Dapto for us.
"Leading Victorian trainer Robbie Britton then bought a half share in her and she won 15 races, 13 in the metropolitan area.''
Judith Richardson says that the couple's initial interest in greyhounds was sparked by social visits to the now defunct Wollongong track.
"We were married when I was 16 and John only 18 and have been married now for 51 years,'' Judith said.
"When we were first together we had no money and all we could afford for an outing was going to Wollongong greyhounds every Monday night.
"We even had to cut that out eventually because we worked so hard, first with a bread run, then managing a grocery shop at Dapto.
"We built up that business but when one of the large chains opened nearby it killed us off so we bought service stations at Albion Park and Kiama.
"After that we started Kiama Harbour Seafood Affair which we ran successfully for 16 years.
"It was a massive business and turned over $2000 every hour in prime time, selling cooked and fresh seafood.
"We worked seven days a week for 30 years without a holiday, so it's no wonder we are enjoying our current down time with the greyhounds.''
John Richardson was 22 when he trained his first winner, Silver Rambler, but the responsibilies associated with marriage and children forced him to give away the sport until Paul Wheeler gifted Electra Bale to the couple.
"Silver Rambler only ever won one race and in those days Judith and I had very slow dogs,'' John recalled.
"Bathurst was about the only track that would give them a draw and as they raced Saturday afternoons in those days I would help the officials clean up after the meeting and we would stay over-night and make a weekend break out of it.''
John and Judith have a unique way of training their greyhounds.
"We have a starting box on our three-acre property at Dapto and the dogs jump out of the box to get to their dinner, which is in a bowl attached to a running rail,'' said John.
"When we were first given Young Gun to train he would not chase at all but by rewarding him with dinner for coming out of the starting box we got him going.
"He virtually jumps out of the box onto a meal.''
The Richardsons' training set-up is self-contained and includes a straight track, while the property runs onto a creek where the dogs can enjoy a leisurely swim.
Their favourite track is Nowra ("because of the people which run the place, they can never do enough for you'' says John) while Mister Moss is their all-time pin-up greyhound.
The Bill Fletcher-trained Mister Moss won the 1967 National Derby but the win which stands out for the Richardsons was seeing the dog give the leaders 20 lengths' start to win his first race, a Dapto maiden.
