When Reg's Chance notched his fifth successive win - and his 15th from 22 starts - at Wagga on Friday, the dog continued a winning streak extending four generations for owner Michael "Harvey" Hugo and trainer Jack ROY.
Reg's Chance is a son of Extreme Chance, who was trained by ROY for Hugo, and who won 48 races and filled 60 placings from 134 races.
The line began when Hugo bought a puppy called Aziz Osti from her breeder Mick Ridge, and when retired she whelped It's Chance.
That greyhound had 12 wins and seven placings from 40 starts and produced Half A Chance, whose 28 races yielded seven wins and eight placings for the Hugo/ROY combination.
It's A Chance is the dam of Extreme Chance and while her son Reg's Chance has been winning short course races, his 82-year-old trainer Jack ROY is confident he can go further in distance.
"Early this year I trialled Reg's Chance over 457m at Temora and he went so well I had a big bet on him in a race there over the same distance but he broke down,'' ROY said.
"I have kept him over short courses since he resumed because he keeps winning so I figure if it isn't broken why fix it.
"But I know he can run 457m so there's a good chance he will see out 520m.''
Ken Staines, one of the most astute trainers of the past 50 years and a wonderful historian of the sport, has retired while retaining ownership in "one or two greyhounds.''
Staines, 74, enjoyed his biggest success when he trained Mystery Idle to win the group 1 National Futurity at Wentworth Park in 1994 along with the Richmond Oaks.
But he was just a teenager when he and his father Fred, a shearer, won dozens of races with Golden Rug, described by Staines as a "good bush dog.''
Ken's father Fred was a shearer while his mother Margaret was a cook in the shearing sheds so young Ken led a nomadic childhood.
He recalled: "There was good money to be made in the sheds but dad used to supplement his income by racing a couple of greyhounds during his travels as a shearer.
"He won races at long forgotten country tracks at Parkes, Cootamundra, ORANGE, Harden-Murrumburrah and at WELLINGTON, which was a straight track.
"In order for me to be able to help him he got me to put my age up to get my own trainer's licence and when I was 16 I was winning a lot of races training Golden Rug.
"I trained my first city winner, a dog called Add A Tail, at Harold Park in 1978 and then I bought one I named Freddy's Dynasty, after my dad.
"I bought him as a pup for $3000 and he became an outstanding stayer until I was forced to retire him due to lack of available long distance races.
"More recently I had success with three greyhounds from the same litter, Ronan Izmir, Montana Izmir and Helena Izmir, which I trained for Gregg Mills of Cootamundra.
"Helena Izmir won nine from 23 races, Montana Izmir nine out of 31 and Ronan Izmir, who eventually went to Victoria to be trained by Jason Thompson, finished up winning 32 from 55 races and over $113,000.
"When she was retired Montana Izmir produced my 2018 Lismore Cup winner Raven Izmir.''
Ken Staines' advice to young trainers hoping to succeed is to "look, listen and learn.
"My parents taught me to respect my elders but also to sit quietly when older folk, and when I was a kid they were often greyhound trainers, were speaking.
"While my dad taught me just about everything I knew about greyhounds, I also learned a lot from listening to people like Billy Taylor from Trundle, Joe Kelly from ORANGE, who trained Tell You Why, the 1959 Peter Mosman Classic winner and champions such as Push Button and Gemdelina, along with the Riverina's Ron "Dookie" Crowe, who was not only a knowledgable greyhound man but who also played five rugby league tests for Australian in the early 1960s.''
