"This fellow is not far off being the best I have raced,'' said owner-trainer Garry Streatfield after Glenreagh Skud notched his 22nd win in taking out Sunday's Chief Havoc Cup at Gunnedah.
Glenreagh Skud came from box seven and powered along the rails in the straight to score clearly in 30.65sec.
Streatfield, who trains a small team at Glenreagh, in the NSW Northern Rivers Clarence Valley area, still considers Glenreagh Rocket the best he has had in his 23 years in the sport.
"Six years ago Glenreagh Rocket won 30 races and took out the Group 3 Casino Cup so he is the quickest, but Glenreagh Skud is getting up there,'' Streatfield said.
"Skud's mission has long been the Ladbrokes Back Yourself Challenge final at Wentworth Park next month but I was keen to squeeze the Gunnedah Cup in too.
"In anticipation of Glenreagh Skud making the Challenge final I took him to Wenty last month and he led all the way in 30.10.
"I was not confident about him winning the Gunnedah final when he drew out wide but he secured a nice run in the straight when Jingles Keeping got off the track.''
Streatfield is a self-taught trainer who had an unusual introduction into the sport.
"Unlike many trainers, for me there was no family background but when I was in the Navy I was based at Woolloomooloo and with a few mates would attend the Saturday night greyhounds at Wentworth and Harold Parks.
"I thought I would like to give training dogs a crack so I bought a puppy from a breeder in WANGARATTA.
"Because my wife is Danish I called the pup Talented Dane and managed to win seven races with him.
"Everything I knew about training I gleaned from books, I was always pottering around second hand shops seeking out books on the sport.''
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Sahalee was rewarded for her consistency when she scored a surprise "come from behind'' win over 520m at Bathurst on Monday.
Trained by Glen Quirk for his brother Steve and his uncle, Robbie Hewitt, Sahalee has now registered a win and five seconds from her past eight starts.
Formerly owned and trained in the Hunter Valley by Graeme Barnett, Sahalee led throughout at Wentworth Park in February but has led and been run down in several races at headquarters.
"She has good box speed and is a keen chaser but when she was unable to make the pace on Monday I thought she was going to run yet another second placing,'' Quirk said.
"So I was surprised she finished strongly to win.
"I am also training her litter brother Summerhill Son, a giveaway with whom I won at Bathurst in April.''
Quirk, who has been training "off and on'' for 15 years, has had a wealth of experience with some of the sport's biggest names.
"I have worked for the late Tony Reilly and for Mal Cuneo at Keinbah, Stuart Dickinson at Cawbourne Kennels, and for leading NZ trainer Karen Walsh,'' he said.
"In February a friend of mine, Matt Attard, bought the property at Lidsdale where Kim Hyde trained so many winners.
"Sahalee is out of Noelene Holloway's good bitch Queen Esther, so we intend breeding from her when her racing days are over.''
Most famous dog to come off Attard's Lidsdale property is True Kihael, a top class sprinter who won 25 of 46 races for Kim Hyde between 2008 and 2010.
