It’s not the first time, and probably not the most important time, but Mark Craig firmly believes his late father Rodney has been doing his share of watching over him in recent times.
Mark’s kennel star is a dog called General Curly, an impressive winner at Gunnedah last Wednesday, which improved his record to four wins from five outings.
General Curly is owned Mark, and racecaller Dan Russ and his wife Prue, and was named after Mark’s father who carried the nickname Curly. But long before the dog entered his Tamworth kennels, Mark’s father had played another significant role.
“Dad’s nickname was Curly and this dog’s mother, Ring In, she was the last winner Dad ever trained before he passed away,” Mark explained.
“Dan (Russ) owned her with one of his mates and dad trained her for them, and he only gave her one race and she won by 8 lengths at Dubbo in 29.8s and then broke a hock.
“She went back to (trainer) Brad Canty and because the boys never really got to race her, Brad said you can have a pup out her.
“When she whelped, Brad sent us the list of the earbrands, and we just picked the one that had letter ‘R’ in the ear brand - for my old man’s name, Rodney – and, sight unseen, we were lucky enough to score this little pup.
“We reckon there was a bit of divine intervention in it.”
It wasn’t the first time Mark suspects some intervention. Back in January, he and Dan were heading home from Dubbo greyhounds with five dogs in a trailer.
In the early hours of the morning, as they neared Werris Creek, flash flooding had seen 140mm of rain tumble, and out of nowhere the road essentially disappeared, washing the car and trailer off the causeway. The SES arrived and rescued the pair and their five dogs.
“Yeah we had a bit of luck there. I was OK I had my window down and was ready to swim, but big Dan was just on the phone trying to get help,” Mark recalled.
Mark explained that early on General Curly didn’t get off to the best of starts, “flipping” in the boxes at his first performance trial due to excitement.
“He’s a good little pup. We had a bit of trouble with him early on in the piece, doing a couple of little things wrong, and he didn’t get off on the really good note, but the best thing about him he has so much raw ability,” Mark said.
“His first three starts he had won, and he had never been over any of those journeys before. Every time you throw something in front of him, he picks it up and runs with it.”
General Curly heads to LADBROKES GARDENS on Saturday night, drawn the three in the seventh event. Mark admits it will be his toughest test to date, but, he’s hoping that once again Curly is looking down on his namesake.
