Rockstar Prince and Rockstar Melody are the only members of the same litter to have qualified for Thursday night's GRNSW Middle Distance Championship final yet they were produced by a bitch who won just a single race.
The Andrea Dailly-trained Rockstar Prince (pictured) won his 600m Championship heat at Dapto last Thursday in third fastest time of 34.56 while his sister Rockstar Melody clocked 34.52 in chasing home quickest qualifier Slingshot Hammer.
Rockstar Beav, another member of the fabulously talented March, 2017 litter whelped by Bekim Rose, was sixth in his heat but is no slouch and has so far earned $49,000 from eight wins.
Sydney's Chris Nutt, who shares ownership and breeding of the "Rockstars'' with fellow Sydneysider Shaun Evans, said: "Bekim Rose had just three starts but after winning her middle distance maiden she fractured a hock.
"Her trainer Andrea Dailly had expected Bekim Rose to become a really good stayer but the Wheeler family, world famous breeders, advised Shaun and I to make sure we bred from her.
"They pointed out that Bekim Rose was out of Bekim Bale, whose daughters have often become outstanding producers.
"The greyhounds Shaun and I have in the Dapto Middle Distance Championship are from Bekim Rose's first litter while her second litter, sired by Mepunga Blazer, are now 18 months old and about to begin what we expect to be successful careers.''
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SPEAKING of outstanding litters, spare a thought for Subawa Ngurah, who cares for champion brood bitch Solar Pak on his property at Tallong, near Goulburn.
Bali-born Ngurah, a popular character around greyhound tracks, is known as "Subby'' and has long looked after Solar Pak for her owners, Barry Ward and Mark Walden.
In return for providing good care for Solar Pak, Subby is presented with first pick from each of the now super brood bitch's litters.
When Solar Pak whelped to Collision in April, 2017, Subby wanted a black dog pup and as there was just one youngster fulfilling that description he chose the greyhound which now races are Guapo.
Now Guapo is no slouch and has been placed in each of two Wentworth Park starts as well as winning three races and filling four second spots from 10 provincial outings.
But when Subby plumped for the black dog in the litter, he by-passed that pup's siblings which included Good Odds Harada (20 wins and $1,143,035), Feral Franky (21 wins for $405,660) and Good Odds Buddy, whose 14 wins have amassed nearly $72,000.
Subby had better luck with Solar Pak's previous litter, sired by Fernando Bale, with his selection Nino De Oro winning 15 races and earning $59,000.
She was not quite in the league of her litter brother Little Digger, who earned $154,000 from 27 wins, but Nino De Oro looks set to compensate Subby in the breeding barn.
"Nino De Oro whelped 11 puppies to Collision just over five weeks ago and I have had no trouble selling them all,'' Subby said.
Not surprisingly, Frank Hurst, trainer of Good Odds Harada and Good Odds Buddy, along with Jack Smith, trainer of Feral Franky and Little Digger, have purchased youngsters from Nino De Oro's first litter.
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Harmat scored his 25th win in a 400m event at LADBROKES GARDENS on Friday but connections have no plans to step their brilliant front-runner up in distance.
Harmat is trained by Wendy Brown, who, in 1972, became only the second female permitted to lead a greyhound to the boxes in NSW.
"I took out a licence in 1970 but while women were allowed to train dogs, it wasn't until two years later we were allowed to take our dogs out onto the track,'' Brown said.
Wendy's husband John, 77, is a former National Coursing Association committeeman, and he confirmed Harmat would remain a short course greyhound.
"We gave him one go over 515m in June and it took the dog over a month to get over it, it flattened him completely,'' he said.
Despite his racing being restricted to sprints at the provincials, Harmat has earned a tidy $47,000.
