A $500 bargain buy which became a Wentworth Park winner and earned $22,600 prizemoney got construction worker Tomas Rees "hooked'' on the sport.
Rees, a hobby trainer from Douglas Park, has been enjoying a successful year with siblings Blazing Cartier and Blazing Hype, which he purchased from leading breeders Michelle and Michael Jones as 12 week old puppies.
Blazing Cartier, a Wentworth Park 520m winner in June, scored her second 720m victory there on Saturday night when she easily defeated Mercedes Dior and pacemaker Show Me Confetti in a respectable 42.56s.
Blazing Cartier's litter brother Blazing Hype has been placed in two of five Wentworth Park 520m races but, like his sister, looks destined for a career as a stayer.
"They only turned two in June and despite their form, Blazing Hype is actually four or five lengths quicker than Blazing Cartier,'' Rees said.
"I became rapt in greyhound racing a few years back when we bought a greyhound called Little Red for only $500.
"Little Red won seven races including a long-distance event at Wenty in June, 2014.
"I now have six greyhounds in work but am so keen on the dogs I have invested in a 12 acre property near Richmond where I plan to extend my interests in the sport.''
Blazing Cartier goes around again from box one in Saturday night's Matty Steward's Last Stand Stakes, a 720m fourth and fifth grade at Wentworth Park.
xxxx
Zipping Garth retired without winning a race in the metropolitan area yet the unbeaten provincial star is set to become a stud sensation.
Trained by Jason Mackay for a career on the track which lasted just a month, Zipping Garth (pictured) won each of five races, among them blistering 24.85 performance over 450m at Maitland, a 30.09 Richmond 535m romp and a scorching 29.20 effort at LADBROKES GARDENS.
After stringing together those wins between March 28 and April 27, Zipping Garth suffered a serious injury in a trial mishap at Maitland and almost died.
A litter brother to trainer Rob Tyler's outstanding prospect Zipping Truvy, Zipping Garth has been in massive demand from breeders since going to stud.
"I have sold, booked or taken orders for 65 straws for Zipping Garth from brood bitch owners,'' the dog's studmaster Jason Mackay said.
"That is astonishing because interest in breeding is always lower during winter months.
"Zipping Garth would have become a world-beater because he broke my former Wentworth Park record holder Punch One Out's The Gardens track record in a trial when he was still a puppy.
"I pre-trained both Zipping Garth and his sister Zipping Truvy, who has run 29.76 at Wenty and ran home in an unbelievable 11.40 when third, beaten less than a length by Feral Franky, at Wentworth Park last Saturday.
"But in their pre-training the gap between Zipping Garth and Zipping Truvy in their times was astronomical, that's how fast Garth was.''
xxxx
CONNECTIONS of Veloce Nero are hoping history can repeat itself when Veloce Nero represents NSW in Saturday week's Crocmedia National Distance Championship final at Cannington, Perth.
"When her dam Chica Destacada won the 2014 National Sprint Championship for us at Cannington, she had box two, the same draw Veloce Nero has this year,'' part-owner Denis Donoghue pointed out.
