Ask Frank Jeffcoat how long he has been involved in greyhound racing, and after a moment of pondering, the simple answer is: “It seems like forever.”
“Forever” dates back to the 1960s for the now 81-year-old Frank, but regardless of age or longevity, it has not stopped his ability to produce a winner, and at Bathurst on Monday, the Cowra trainer returned home with a winning treble
Adding to the remarkable achievement was that all three winners - Hay Pepper, Lola Pepper and Fergie Pepper - are littermates who were celebrating their second birthday.
“Yeah they all went good for me the little blokes,” Frank said the morning after. “They are all from the same litter. I’ve kept all seven of them. I couldn’t sell them because they are all mates. It was a bit of an effort, but I’ve hung onto the lot.
”It’s not the first time I’ve trained three (winners) at a meeting. I trained five one time, and I used to get four a few times back when I was down around the Nowra area before we moved up here to Cowra.
“I have been in it a while. It seems like forever. Too long. I reckon I got into greyhounds in the ‘60s, and a took a few years out at one time, but I still really enjoy it.”
While the punters may have been surprised a little when Lola Pepper upset the Dennis Barnes-trained $1.30 favourite Nangar Opal, Frank wasn’t at all.
“No, I was confident she could win off the one box,” he said of Lola Pepper. “Dennis Barnes had his smart one in, she had won her first two starts at Wentworth Park, but Lola jumped in front and that’s where she stayed. I think she could win in town this one. She’s a really good little bitch.
“I had a very good litter a long time ago which included Supreme Pepper and Darlin’ Pepper, but this litter is just as good.”
As Frank said he had planned to sell the pups originally.
“I’m 81 now, so I said to my wife Jacqueline, I will breed them and we’ll sell them once I get them on the ground,” Frank explained. “Then unfortunately my wife went and got Parkinson’s (Disease). It makes it really hard but I still take her to the dogs every time we go. I don’t go without her.
“I’m lucky I’ve got a couple of good friends down there (at Bathurst) who said they’d catch the dogs for me.
“Jacqueline was there yesterday and she loved it. Like I said I don’t go without her. She has loved the dogs as long as I have. Your marriage doesn’t last if the two of you don’t like the dogs, and we’ve been married 56 years now.”
