That Fredys Flash will come out of the boxes at The Gardens on Saturday night for his 200th start is remarkable, but what is the truly unbelievable part of this story, is that he ever made it to a racetrack.
On Thursday afternoon at Maitland Fredys Flash, a spritely six-year-old, finished just behind the placegetters at start number 199 of a career which began back on January 10, 2014. And now to the double century.
But as his trainer Ian Betts explained, there might never have been a Fredys Flash.
“I had three dogs in a litter to Magic Sprite, and this one was born with a crippled leg. He wouldn’t put his leg down as a pup,” Betts revealed. “I left him for a little while and he wandered around on three legs, before I took him to a vet and was told his leg was withered because there was nerve damage.
“I knew we obviously would never be able to race him, but I took him home because my wife loved him, and I said she could have him, and we’ll call him Fredy … I call my wife Fred.
“We had a big paddock, an acre and half, with a six foot fence, and we had the three dogs in there, and he’d run around with the other dogs – only on three legs - and to be honest, he was just as quick.
“He got to about 10 months and was galloping around on three legs, then one day, early in the morning, I let them into the paddock to run around, and the next thing you know, the three of them looked up and all took off. A fox had darted across the yard and they were after it.
“But what was incredible, was Fredy suddenly put his foot down and galloped, and ever since that day he has been four legs. The vet said it was like he didn’t realise he had a fourth leg.”
The rest – and 199 starts to date – is, as they say, history.
Since that first start, a fourth at The Gardens in January 2014, Fredys Flash has gone on to win 14 times and filled a place on a further 69 occasions.
“He’s a tough dog, and everyone knows him up there (Newcastle) so I can’t get a price,” Betts said. “I used to have $50 or a $100 on him every start for a place, but then everyone started doing it and I couldn’t get on.”
At age 74 and with his health “not what it used to be,” Betts only has “a couple of dogs racing.” As for Fredy, he too is getting on in years having been whelped in May 2012, but health is not an issue for the black dog.
“He’s just one of those dogs that just keeps going. He never gets injured. He’s only really been injured once, when he did a tendon in his back leg and was out for three months.”
Betts, has been a hobby trainer from more than two decades, and considers his first dog, Bear Walk, as one of his best.
“He won the Maitland Derby and the Dubbo 2000,” Betts said. “The three out of this Magic Sprite litter have all been good to me, winning over 30 races. I’ve just played around with a few dogs over the years, with a few litters I’ve bred, but now I’ve given away most of them.”
Fredys Flash has become a fixture in Newcastle with 11 of his 14 wins coming at The Gardens. He was The Gardens Greyhound Social Club's Greyhound of the Year in 2016, and fittingly the club where more than half of his 199 starts have taken place, will honour Fredys Flash and Betts on Saturday with a special ceremony after his 200th start, presenting the pair with a plaque and congratulatory cards signed by staff and fellow trainers.
So what is the secret to Fredys’ longevity?
“I’m just a hobby trainer, and I find you don’t have to treat your dog with all this rubbish they give them … vitamins and so on. It might sound funny, but that’s the way I do it.
“Give them good tucker, two meals a day, look after them, and they appreciate it.”
And just because he is hitting 200, there are no immediate thoughts of retirement for Fredys Flash.
“He just loves to race ... and while he’s still competitive, he’ll keep running.”
