There used to be an adage that there's no room for sentiment in racing but that has never applied to the greyhound code and Old Mate Koby, who notched his third win in three Wentworth Park starts on Saturday, is testimony to that.
Old Mate Koby, who is raced by Mary Farrugia, was destined to be sold as a mature age puppy at the annual Richmond Auction until his owner intervened.
"Mary's husband Joe and their son Mark bought six puppies from the first litter whelped by breeder Mario Abela's good race bitch Eva Diva and Our Mate Koby was among them,'' trainer Mick Blissett explained.
"Our Mate Koby was among the pups put aside to be sold at the Richmond Puppy Auction but Mary had become so attached to him that she started crying at the thought of her favourite heading elsewhere.
"Because they were already entered for the sale, her son Mark had no choice but to buy the pup back for $3500 to keep Mary happy.
"It turned out a great move because Our Mate Koby showed immediate talent when he was nearly ready to race and Mark, a long-time friend of mine, picked him out for me to train.''
"Mark's little boy Koby has always wanted to have a dog named after him but insisted it had to have possess some talent.
"Before Our Mate Koby was named he asked me if I thought this one had sufficient ability to carry his name and I assured him it was good enough.''
Owner Caroline Hughes can thank partner Glen McKinley's talent for "old fashioned horse trading'' for Firestone Alley taking his earnings to nearly $42,000 with his upset win as a $44 outsider at Wentworth Park on Saturday night.
Firestone Alley, trained for Hughes by PENRITH pizzeria proprietor Sam Simonetta, came from fourth on the back straight and second on the home bend to win running away in a smart 29.92s, the dog's personal best time in 23 Wenty outings.
After the race McKinley explained: "I had sold Firestone Alley to a client in SA for $7000 but the dog was only able to win two of his first 25 races there.
"The owner contacted me and I offered to buy the dog back for $4000, which he was only too happy to accept.
Eberand's talented young sprinter Ebby Infrared, sent to Victorian trainer Ros Hume to contest the time-honoured Maturity Classic, won his heat in 30.15s and has drawn box six next week's final.
Fastest qualifier was Hard Style Rico who won in 29.66s and who has drawn box one in the final.
Wagga-owned Tiggerlong Tonk qualified for Melbourne trainer Correy Grenfell in 30.14s while last week's Ladbrokes Vic Peters Classic winner Playlist won his heat in 30.04s.
Christo Bale, raced by Riverina breeder Brendan Wheeler, won his heat in 29.73s while Fire Legend, owned and bred in NSW by Mark Moroney, is first reserve for the group 1 event.
NSW-owned greyhounds won each of Saturday night's heats of the group 3 Fireball over the 725m at The Meadows, with Ross Davidson's Sunset Bourbski winning in 42.69s for Melbourne trainer Andrea Dailly and Here's Tears, from Michael Ivers' breeding barn on the central coast, scoring for Victoria's Robert Britton in 43.20s.
