Legendary bookmaker Max Hallinan, whose son Marty is the most successful owner-breeder on NSW tracks, has died, aged 79.
Max Hallinan passed away last Thursday and his funeral will be held this Thursday at 2pm at All Saints Cathedral, Bathurst.
Hallinan was the biggest bookmaker on country tracks throughout the 1960s, 70s and 80s, prompting this recollection from Dubbo club president Shayne Stiff.
"I remember when you could buy a good house in Bathurst, MUDGEE or Lithgow for $10,000, yet at the same time a big punter could win that amount off Max in a single bet, he was absolutely fearless,'' Stiff said.
Max's widow Denise said: "Max was an opinion bookie who won a lot of respect from owners and trainers because even if they told him their dog was a certainty, he would still let them bet at a good price.
"We got together in the mid 1970s when Max was already betting at Wentworth Park, Bulli, Richmond and western districts courses.
"He owned a few greyhounds including Origami Lad, who won five of his first six starts.
"I recall when we had plans to build a house on a block of land at Bathurst and Max happened to be betting at the Grafton July greyhound carnival.
"He phoned to say he noticed there was a popular roller-skating rink there so had made up his mind to build Bathurst's first rink on our land.
"When I inquired about our house he replied 'we will do that too.'
"I asked, where are we going to get the money to do both so he gave me his standard answer which was always 'don't you worry about that.'
"After he retired from bookmaking we bought a farm at Glanmire, 18km from Bathurst, and took up market gardening before planting an orchard.''
Max Hallinan was among a handful of bold, big gambling bookies, like Ray Hopkins and the late John Stollery and Neville Mogler, who reigned supreme but whose numbers and turnover gradually diminished once the TAB arrived in 1964.
There will never be another quite like Max Hallinan.
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Dana Ali (pictured) stole the show at Friday night's opening Neds Lightning fixture at Wentworth Park, leading throughout to win in near record figures of 15.89sec for the 280m.
The Rod McDonald-trained bitch's time was just .15sec outside the course record established by the Luke Azzopardi-prepared Estranged in September, 2015.
Dana Ali speared out of box four in her third and fourth grade sprint on Friday to take her record to 18 wins and a dozen placings from 52 starts.
"She has a good motor when she puts her mind to it,'' trainer McDonald said.
"After a race earlier in her career Dana Ali was attacked by another dog in the catching pen and became timid and wary of other greyhounds for quite a while.
"Thankfully she seems to have got over it now and when she can make the pace, like she did on Friday, she can really run.''
Dana Ali's overall strike rate may not be over-impressive but she has struck a purple patch of form, with Friday's win being her eighth victory from her past 15 starts.
She is a real "home grown'' pRoduct for her Cowra-based trainer, as she is a daughter of Good Thing, who won six races for McDonald in 2011 and 2012 and who reached top grade at Wentworth Park.
Good Thing was a daughter of Dana Betty, another McDonald-trained greyhound whose 13 wins included success at Wentworth Park.
"Dana Betty was a daughter of Runaway Tiger, who was bred by Ray Smith of FORBES, and Runaway Tiger was a half-sister to History Lesson, a top notcher who was also successful at the stud.''
