Dave Taylor cannot believe his luck after Ebby Infrared, the first greyhound he has raced following the retirement of his initial acquisition, Ebby Ripper, notched his 17th win in 36 starts last Saturday night at Bulli.
Taylor, who moved from Sydney to the Gold Coast in 2005, became involved in greyhounds through being a neighbour of Michael Eberand, trainer and breeder of Ebby Ripper.
"When I was at Quaker's Hill in the late 1990s, Michael was living next door, and while my father had owned greyhounds when I was a kid, I had no interest in them,'' Taylor, who moved to the Gold Coast, in 2005, said.
"But Michael and I became friends and when he had to travel to country or interstate race meetings I offered to look after the greyhounds he had to leave at home.
"Both myself and another pal, Michael Nixon, took turns doing that and as a thank you Michael gifted each of us a quarter share in Ebby Ripper.
"It turned out to be extremely generous because Ebby Ripper retired recently with 32 wins, 52 placings and $317,000 prizemoney.
"Due to the success we had with her we were keen to get a second greyhound and Michael Eberand suggested we all purchase a puppy by his stud dog Aussie Infrared from Lonesome Knight, a bitch owned by Victorian breeder Geoff Collins.
"That pup turned out to be Ebby Infrared, who has just turned two and has already earned over $60,000 and won five races at Wentworth Park.
"No wonder I keep pinching myself to realise this is really happening.''
Taylor was retrenched after many years at his previous job and is now happily stacking shelves at Woolworth's.
"I never dreamed I would finish up stacking supermarket shelves at the age of 55, but in the current climate I probably have the most secure job in Australia,'' he quipped.
