Peter Tobin, who has been enjoying a good run recently with the greyhound Max Cady, took up training purely as a way of maintaining fitness After retiring from football.
“I'm now 60 and when I retired at 36 After a lifetime playing rugby union in the Newcastle district, I needed a hobby to keep me exercising,” Tobin reflected.
“I played half back and five-eighth for first and second division teams in Newcastle and had some wonderful times, the highlight of which was touring the United States in 1982 and playing matches against various university rugby sides.
Until he was 21, Tobin had raced whippets with the Newcastle Whippet Racing Club.
“While there I listened to how these greyhound trainers had won all this prizemoney with their dogs while my whippet had won a race a day earlier and all I wound up with was a ribbon.
“The irony is that After a lifetime playing rugby union I have inherited a couple of bung knees which hamper my exercising the greyhounds, but I love having a reason to get up in the morning and walking the dogs.
“One of my rugby union team mates had been Mick Crawford, who had raced a top class greyhound called Blackalls Boss.
“He won 13 of his first 27 races but the toll of driving all the way to Bulli while working in a Hunter Valley power station took its toll and Mick sold Blackalls Boss to Victoria where he won another 15 races and became a top class speedster.
“Mick's association with Blackalls Boss sparked my interest in the sport while I had also worked at various power stations around the Hunter Valley with Ray Smith, who owned greyhounds trained by Ron Bell.”
While he did not have anyone specific to mentor him as a trainer, Tobin asked a lot of questions and found knowledgeable people within the industry were always willing to help with advice to a newcomer.
Tobin’s first city winner was Seth, who won at Wentworth Park on July 9, 2005.
“She also gave me my first Cup win when she took out the Taree Cup and was a durable bitch who raced from 2004 to 2006, contesting 110 races for 14 wins and 32 placings,” he said.
“Seth paid for my next, and still best greyhound, Hurricane Beccy. Steve Donoghue, who worked with me in the coal plant at a power station, partnered me in buying Hurricane Beccy for $2000 as a 12 month old puppy.
“Graham Ganderton, a client of top trainer Ruth Matic, had a litter for sale which were out of Marglissa, a well bred daughter of Bombastic Shiraz and Awesome Berger who was closely related to Bit Chilli and Smart Betsy.
“I had always had a high opinion of Ruth's top notch sprinter Hurricane Luke so we bought this pup which we named Hurricane Beccy. She scored six wins and six placings but was at her best at Wentworth Park, where she won four races.
“Hurricane Beccy gave me the biggest thrill I have had in the sport when she won a Wentworth Park Free For All , defeating Mark Gatt's top class sprinter Ritza Ryder.
“After the race I recall saying to Mark that I thought his dog was going to run my greyhound down and he pointed to the semaphore board and said ‘no way' because Beccy had run home in 11.64, fantastic figures at that time.
“More recently I have won seven races, including a win at Wentworth Park, with Envy, who was out of a sister to Hurricane Luke.
“Wentworth Park is my favourite track, After all.... while the best greyhound I have seen was the champion stayer Miss High Lo, who was the 1974 NSW Greyhound of the Year award winner.
“My wife Kim and I are on a large block at Toronto but have only three kennels, two of which are occupied by Max Cady and Blue Shark, who have won half a dozen races between them.
“But soon I am going to need More kennels as Hurricane Beccy has had a litter of pups to Fabregas which are almost eight months of age.”
