Anthony Dawson took a gamble when he bought Kylie Keeping after she was suspended for marring during a race at Wentworth Park but she has rewarded him with five wins, 10 placings and $30,000 prizemoney.
The up-and-coming stayer won over 520m at Wentworth Park for Dawson on July 3 in a not too shabby 30.27 but since switching to longer trips has gone even better, winning easily over 717m at Richmond last Sunday in a slick 42.01.
"When she marred last November she nearly chased the other dog down to the Fish Market so it was no surprise she got a ticket,'' Dawson said.
"But she had been bashed about herself in a couple of races and I thought she might have just got fed up and sort of retaliated, thinking the other dog was stopping her getting to the lure,'' Dawson said.
"Kylie Keeping is so well bred that I figured if she didn't work out as a race bitch she would be worth breeding from.''
Dawson is a member of a well known harness racing family, with his father Neville a prominent trainer and brother Matt being a driver and trainer.
But it was Matt's venture into greyhounds which prompted Anthony to tackle the sport.
"While he still had pacers Matt bought a dog, so I decided to do the same and purchased El Timmy,'' Anthony said.
"Matt trained him and he gave us a terrific thrill by reaching the final of the group 3 Young Star Classic at Wentworth Park last October.
"El Timmy had plenty of early pace and won four races in succession in April before breaking his hock.
"Annie Rocks gave me a city winner as a trainer when she won at Wentworth Park on July 3 and I now have her, Kylie Keeping and a young dog in training.
"I'm a plumber with a gas company and work odd hours, including night shifts, but training greyhounds mostly fits in pretty well with my job.
"Kylie Keeping seems to thrive on the way I train because I walk her three or four kilometres a day and she loves it.''
Before last Sunday's Grafton Ladbrokes Fifth Grade final, trainer Julie King declared Tipping, trained by her partner Jim Gallaway, the likely winner ahead of her dog Scraping By.
"Jim's dog Tipping is much quicker than Scraping By and his record would have been greater if he had not been so injury prone,'' King said.
When the lids lifted Tipping rocketed out of box six and quickly set up a big lead, before suffered an injury and felling back through the field.
Luckily for the Gallaway/King camp their kennelmate Scraping By took advantage and won clearly, collecting the $4500 first prizemoney.
"There is no way Scraping By was going to beat Tipping when he led so clearly,'' King said.
"Tipping dropped a hind leg muscle but hopefully three months in the paddock will allow him to get back to the track in Masters’ races.
"Apart from Scraping By winning the race, the upside was that Tipping did not attempt to continue running at top speed when the leg went.
"Tipping, who has won eight of 24 starts, would have been a really top notch dog if he had not had so many setbacks.''
