Camden Gossip and Camden Valleyway, leading contenders for this week's Unibet Richmond Oaks, are fifth generation descendants of the first greyhound their trainer Doug Rogers owned.
The formidable females, litter sisters by College Causeway from Camden Blue, are rated by Rogers as the best greyhounds he has trained.
Each has won at Wentworth Park with Camden Gossip having won 10 of 23 starts and Camden Valleyway successful in 12 from 29 appearances.
Rogers, 55, has lived in Camden all his life and grew up peering at next door neighbour Eric Faber's greyhounds.
"As a kid I would look through the cracks in the fence admiring Eric's greyhound Satan's Eclipse, who was a prolific winner on the old Wollongong track,'' Rogers recalled.
"I went to school with Paul McDonald, the son of Sydney's leading trainer John McDonald, who trained those famous brothers Glider's Son, the 1980 Paws Of Thunder winner, and PETER GLIDER, who won the 1982 Brisbane Cup and the 1983 Richmond Derby.
"On an early visit to MACCA's kennels his smart race greyhound Blue Elsa jumped up and put her front feet on my shoulders and I have been 'hooked' on greyhounds ever since."
John McDonald became a mentor to Doug and the pair developed a handy partnership.
"When I started helping MACCA with his greyhounds, one of my duties was to position myself short of the catching pen at Harold Park," Rogers said.
"During her races Rowie's Glider got into the habit of pulling up just past the winning post, then turning around and charging back towards the tailenders.
"My job was to grab her before she did herself or other greyhounds any harm.
"Being a big fan of PETER GLIDER as a stud dog I bought my first greyhound, Camden Girl, for $600 as a three months old puppy from her breeder Alex Stepfner.
"Naturally I had to buy a puppy from a litter whelped by Blue Elsa, that greyhound which had jumped up on me and cemented my enthusiasm for the breed.
"The pup I bought from Blue Elsa, which was the second greyhound I owned and trained, was Camden Boy, who won five races in the metropolitan area.
"But my first greyhound, Camden Girl, was by PETER GLIDER from Milim's Girl and her first win was in a semi-final of the Richmond Inca Maiden.
"In those days the Inca Maiden was second in importance as a maiden race only to Dapto's Winfield Puppy Classic.
"In her semi final Camden Girl had defeated DIRECT Move, trained by Chica Destacada's trainer Doreen Drynan, but Doreen's greyhound won the final from Gary Young's Bigbad Paul with my bitch finishing third.
"In 1987 at Wentworth Park Camden Girl became my first city winner and when retired she was mated to the Irish import GROVE WHISPER and produced Camden Prince and Here's Camden.
"Camden Prince was a Group 1 Vic Peters Classic finalist and was runner-up to Gaylene in the 1995 Young Star Classic at Wentworth Park while Here's Camden won six races.
"At stud Here's Camden became the dam of Camden Shiraz, a daughter of Black Shiraz, who won 17 races for me.
"And Camden Shiraz bred on being mated with Collision and whelping Camden Blue, the dam of Camden Valleyway and Camden Gossip.
"Of course I expect this great dam line to continue as I will be breeding from Camden Gossip and Camden Valleyway.''
Doug Rogers' favourite tracks are Richmond, and more recently Gosford, while he regards the former champion sprinters Flying Amy ("my favourite'' he offers), Brother Fox, Brett Lee and Highly Blessed as the best greyhounds he has seen.
"I will always have a soft spot for Glider's Son, John McDonald's dog who was judged NSW Greyhound of the Year in 1981,'' Rogers said.
"People talk about how quickly Fernando Bale could come out of the boxes, but I have never seen a faster beginner than Glider's Son.''
