Hobby trainer Rodney Metselaar has nominated two of his four greyhounds for Saturday night's heats of the Group 1 Peter Mosman Classic, reinforcing his regret is that he did not take up "serious'' training until recently.
Metselaar's entries are Tap Out Scarlet and Tap Out Axe, who have won nine and four races respectively and have earne over $46,000 prizemoney.
Star of Metselaar's team is Tap Out Rose, who has amassed more than $90,000 in stakes and is still racing is fine form.
"I bought my first greyhound when I was 17 and while I'm 47 now I did not get fair dinkum about training until four years ago,'' Metselaar said.
Employed by Austral Bricks, Rod Metselaar is the nephew of experienced trainers Leo and Hank Vanderburg and it was through Leo his interest in the sport was fuelled.
"As a little kid I was fascinated watching Leo's greyhounds and when I was 17 I went to live with him and his family,'' he recalled. "I immediately bought a dog called Found A Will, which Leo trained for me, and while that greyhound only won a couple of small races at Lithgow, I was hooked.
"My ex-wife was Michelle Burdekin, whose parents Max and Evie won the 2008 Golden Easter Egg with Blazing Token, and I learned a lot from her parents and also from Leo and Hank Vanderburg.
"The readiness to pass on advice to rookie trainers is one of the great things about this sport. You would imagine top trainers would prefer to keep things close to their chests but they are never concerned that imparting their knowledge could result in one of their dogs being beaten by someone they have helped.
Taryn's Gem, trained by Max Burdekin, was the first city winner owned Metselaar but he himself did not get 'seriously' into training until a few years ago.
"Tap Out Rose, the best I have owned, was the first city winner I trained when she won at Wentworth Park in April, 2015," he said.
"I have been with my partner Donna for two-and-a-half years and am extremely fortunate that she loves the greyhounds as much as I do.
"Donna's father Barry Campton was a greyhound trainer so the sport is in her blood too and as I work I could not train greyhounds if Donna was not there. She deserves much of the credit as she helped me win nine races with Tap Out Rose before that greyhound won another six when trained in Melbourne by Robbie Britton, another who has been generous with his advice.
"Since returning to our kennels Tap Out Rose has won again at Wenty while Tap Out Axe gave us our biggest training success when he took out this year's Bathurst Soldiers Saddle final.
"Watching Tap Out Rose's career has provided us with our biggest buzz. When she ran down Fantastic Skye to win in the Damsels' Dash final at The Meadows in January, it was a special thrill.
"Tap Out Rose also finished third in the NSW final of the National Sprint Championship and made the Ladies Bracelet and Paws Of Thunder finals.
"Ironically she contributed to my biggest disappointment because in the Paws Of Thunder she was zooming into second place, about to go after the pacemaker, when another greyhound checked her and she lost all chance.
"That's part of racing, one minute you can be on top of the world and a second later you are down in the dumps."
Metselaar said he especially loves the thrill of racing at Wentworth Park.
"I live one minute from Richmond track but I love racing at Wentworth Park and I believe it would be a tragedy if it ever closed down," he said.
"Brett Lee and Fernando Bale are obviously among the best greyhounds I have seen but for sheer ability my top dog is Worth Doing, who won the 1989 National Derby in race record time.
"In 1989 I was earning $250 a week but I placed $1000 on Worth Doing in the Derby, and despite getting checked early, he still won easily.''
