Marty Hallinan’s involvement in NSW greyhound racing now stretches back 40 years but he remains one of the prominent names in the sport.
The son of Max Hallinan, a leading city and country bookmaker for 30 years up to the late 1990s, Marty Hallinan has been a greyhound racing devotee since the age of 12.
He operates out of a 200 acre property at Clergate, 10km west of ORANGE, and has a hard-earned reputation as a leading owner, breeder and trainer.
"I'm 52 now and my wife Fiona and I set up 30 years ago, breeding and rearing our own stock, training a few, and also raising puppies on behalf of regular clients,'' Hallinan said.
"Of the 300 greyhounds on our property around 100 youngsters are being reared for owners and breeders who have been coming to us for years.
"We have raised our own top notchers such as Mantra Lad, Malfoy, Many Tricks, ZIPPING Willow, ZIPPING Lad, ZIPPING Brock, ZIPPING-rory">ZIPPING Rory and ZIPPING-maggie">ZIPPING Maggie while for others we have reared champions like Collision, Hallucinate and Where's Pedro as well as the 2013 National Derby winner Jagger Swagger.''
Crash, who became the top stud dog in England where he sired the 2010 English Derby winner Bandicoot Tipoki, and Julie and Bruce Fletcher-trained crackerjacks like Magnifique, Bond, Repeated and Radio Star also grew up on the Hallinans' property.
"If Marty and Fiona announced they were no longer rearing pups for outsiders Julie and I would stop breeding altogether," Bruce Fletcher said. "They are so good at what they do.
No wonder Hallinan-raised puppies do well as they dine on a mix of beef, lamb, horsemeat and stews.
"There are six employees here but even that is not really enough because between delivering dogs to trainers and to breaking-in establishments, working on the farm and studying videos of races, I can be flat chat up to 17 hours a day,'' Hallinan said.
"I watch hundreds of race replays to decide which stud dogs to use for my brood bitches and to ascertain which trainers are doing well.
"My number one trainer in NSW is Jason Mackay while I am training several myself and in Victoria I have greyhounds with John Galea, Lisa Cockerill and Carolyn Jones.
"Our sons Damien, 22, and Cameron, 18 are keen and are now learning the ropes as far as training and checking greyhounds for injuries go.
"I have learned to check dogs myself but if I am stumped I call on Jason Mackay's expertise to help me out.''
Hallinan-owned stars have included Mantra Lad (winner of the 2008 National Distance Championship and 2010 Association Cup), Malfoy (2014 Brisbane Cup, Rookie Rebel and Gleeson & Tonta), Many Tricks (2000 Association Cup), ZIPPING Willow (53 starts for 34 wins including the 2014 Ladies Bracelet in race record time), ZIPPING Midge (2015 National Futurity race record), ZIPPING Brock (2014 National Derby), ZIPPING Lad (2011 Summer Cup and 2011 NSW Greyhound of the Year), ZIPPING Man (2011 WP Magic Maiden), ZIPPING-rory">ZIPPING Rory (2014 Summer Cup) and ZIPPING-maggie">ZIPPING Maggie (2015 Chairmans Cup).
Lesser lights but still outstanding performers were Dubbo Cup winner Tricky Jade, who won in 29.50sec at Wentworth Park, Bathurst Cup winner ZIPPING Tess, ZIPPING Felix, who broke the 42 second barrier for 720m at Wentworth Park and Kinga Zac, who nosed out his Hallinan-owned, Jason Mackay-trained kennelmate Kinga Cam in the 2010 Dapto Leagues Club Maiden Classic.
"My favourite was probably Mantra Lad because he earned over $500,000 in stakes when prizemoney levels were nowhere near like they are today,'' Hallinan said.
"I also have a soft spot for Many Tricks as she was the first group one winner I trained myself and when retired produced Malfoy, a triple Group final winner.
"When it comes to choosing female greyhounds to breed with, I go on breeding, conformation and temperament.
"They must have had ability but don't need to have won a classic race to get a shot at motherhood. Al Fresco was no world beater on the racetrack but she and her daughters have been fantastic producers.
"She produced Mantra Lad and Natalie Russ, dam of ZIPPING Felix and ZIPPING-maggie">ZIPPING Maggie, while Pink Bandanna, mother of good city winners ZIPPING Carter and ZIPPING Weston, was also whelped by Al Fresco.''
