Boom Western Districts youngster Harrison Keeping has been sold for a hefty five figure sum to Sydney businessman James Cortis and entered the Castlereagh kennels of Sarah Easey.
Harrison Keeping won first-up over 400m at Dubbo on July 24 in 22.87, fastest time of the meeting, before finishing a luckless fourth over the same course a week later.
Shayne Stiff, partner of Harrison Keeping's former trainer Charmaine Roberts, said: "We have a massive opinion of this dog but James is very persistent and he wore us down to sell.''
Cortis, 47, who owns a CCTV company, has been an enthusiastic buyer of greyhounds this year and said he now has "around 20'' in his team including brilliant front-runner Phase, a winner of nine from 15 races and who is with Michael Eberand, and Aussie Cortis, residing in Easey's kennels.
Aussie Cortis, who has had four wins and two seconds from his past seven starts, is engaged in a 535m race at Richmond on Friday.
"We think he could become a top-class middle or long distance dog and I bought him as a 12th birthday gift for my son Connor,'' James Cortis said.
"On the night Frank Hurst's top notcher Good Odds Cash trialled 22.16 over 400m at Bulli, Aussie Cortis clocked the same time.
"Harrison Keeping impressed me when he won first up in the best time of the meeting but his following run, when he finished a luckless fourth, was even better because he just kept on coming.
"And he produced those performances at just 18 months of age, barely old enough to begin racing.''
Harrison Keeping is the star of a promising litter by My Redeemer from Milly Keeping which was bred by Roberts and Stiff on their Dubbo property.
Others in the litter include Bestow Keeping, Henry Keeping and Lee Keeping.
When Roberts and Stiff announced their intention to sell Bestow Keeping, which they had named after MATTHEW Bestwick, a regular at their local Dubbo track, he stepped in and bought the dog.
"There are a group of young people who have been long time regulars at Dubbo greyhound meetings and we named most of that litter we bred last January after them,'' Stiff said.
"Like most of our dogs they are for sale at the right price and when MATTHEW heard we were going to part with his namesake he bought the dog.
"That was after Bestow Keeping had one start for a win at Dubbo and MATTHEW gave him to Bradley O'Neil, an old schoolmate of his from WELLINGTON, to train.''
Bestow Keeping has been an instant hit for O'Neil and when he won at Bathurst on Monday the dog posted his fourth win in six starts.
He had won three 318m races at Dubbo before scoring over 307m at Bathurst and O'Neil said he would now give the dog a week off.
"I'll ease him up a little and then see if Bestow Keeping is capable of running 400m,'' O'Neil said.
"I've been training for 13 years and in that time my best dog has undoubtedly been Myrniong Rocket, who had 28 wins and 35 placings.''
Bestow Keeping's siblings Henry Keeping and Lee Keeping have also been named after Dubbo track regulars.
"We called Henry Keeping, who has won his only race, after the owner of a Chinese restaurant who was a Dubbo track regular pre-Covid, while Lee Keeping, who has won three from six, is named after a young fellow who was always at the races before Covid,'' Shayne Stiff said.
