A decade ago sales representative Craig Watts secured a starter in the world's richest race when Time And Money, his first greyhound, reached the final of the $250,000 to the winner Golden Easter Egg at Wentworth Park.
Now Watts has a chance at having another "world's richest race" finalist with Time And Money's grandson Chasing Fernando qualifying for the semi-finals of the Million Dollar Chase at WP on September 16.
Chasing Fernando, a son of Time And Money's daughter Chase The Cash, ran the race of his life to finish second, less than a length behind Zipping Kyrgios in near record Time, in Friday night's Richmond regional final of the Million Dollar Chase.
Watts' first venture into greyhound racing was when he and three friends, Anthony Bragg, David Elliot and Dean Leydecker, bought a bitch puppy called Time And Money for just $1500.
She showed so little promise at the start of her career that several trainers refused to take her, resulting in the four partners preparing to place Time And Money into the greyhound adoption scheme.
"Because there was a delay of two months before we could have her adopted we decided to train her for a few weeks,'' Tony Bragg once recalled.
Bragg trained Time And Money from his home at South Penrith and galloped her at a local cricket oval, swam her in a backyard pool, and took her twice weekly to Richmond racetrack for a run.
Time And Money improved so much she wound up winning 10 races and reaching the 2012 Golden Easter Egg final won by Don't Knocka Him.
When Time And Money was retired she produced a bitch called Chase The Cash, who was owned and trained by Bragg's ownership partner Craig Watts.
Chase The Cash, the first greyhound Watts had trained, won 18 races over both sprint and long distances and earned nearly $76,000 in stakes.
"Chasing Fernando's second behind Zipping Kyrgios at Richmond last Friday took his prizemoney to more than $69,000 and he has now had 13 wins and 22 placings from 48 starts,'' Watts said.
"It's great that the MDC semi-finals are at Wentworth Park because that track, along with Richmond, are Chasing Fernando's favourite courses.
"He has hit top form at the right Time because his second behind Zipping Kyrgios was one of the best runs of his career.
"Chasing FernandoChases his guts out every Time he steps onto a racetrack but I didn't dream he would eventually be in with a chance of contesting a race worth $1 million.''
Blind Pursuit, part of a winning double for trainer John Grief at Richmond on Friday, was a gift from his Londonderry neighbour Frank Hurst after the dog indirectly saved the life of the 2019 TAB Million Dollar Chase winning trainer.
Hurst's wife Tracey explained: "At the end of a hand-slip the pup now racing as Blind Pursuit smashed into Frank, fracturing his shoulder and injuring his elbow so badly he had to have it replaced.
"At the Time it was horrible but because his head hit the ground Frank was given a brain scan when he arrived at the hospital where doctors discovered a tumour.
"We were told that if the dog had not caused Frank to be taken to hospital they would not have found the tumour until it was too late.
"That was just over two years ago and thankfully the surgeons were able to successfully remove the tumour.
"At that stage the pup, which we bred from our bitch Good Odds Regina, was unnamed, but after we presented him to John Grief he named him Blind Pursuit.''
