He didn’t quite get the dog, but he still got the dog. Sound confusing, well let’s explain.
Dubbo trainer Shayne Stiff wanted to buy Gypsy Yankee to race in the rich Masters Meteor series in Sydney. He went to owner George Dailly with an offer, but George refused. He did however relent and allow Shayne to train the dog for the series and it could be a $100,000 good decision.
Gypsy Yankee was super impressive winning his heat of the series at Wentworth Park on Wednesday night, clocking 29.70s, four lengths faster than heat winner Cumbria Dreaming, and five lengths quicker than the other heat winner Providence Bale.
“George owes me money and I said we’ll chop it out I’ll take the dog and he said no,” Stiff revealed. “Then he and (his brother) Tom rang and said you can have him for the race.
“They’ll have trouble getting him home now. He has a nice kennel up there (at Dubbo) and he loves the place and all we need is a bit of luck next week.
“All credit to the dog, he’s just a really nice old dog. He’s very well reared, and very well trained before we got him.
“He’s a really nice dog, very honest. He’s like a 16-month-old pup, he just loves it, and the more we work him the more he loves it.
“He’s had 70-something (73) starts and won about $119,000 and I think that’s $10,000 in a week he’s won up here and he’s racing for a $100,000 in a week’s time. That could be $110,000 in two and a half weeks.
“This (event) is a very good initiative from Greyhound Racing NSW, it means we can keep some of these older dogs in work rather than them sitting on a lounge, and some of them like him they just want to race and they want to be running.”
Second went to amazing sprinter Fire Legend with Zulu Warlord finishing third.
The ride was an easy one for trainer Stephen Fitch when his dog Cumbria Dreaming stepped in front in his heat of the Masters Meteor.
“That’s probably the second time he has ever led in his life, so when he jumped in front I have never been so relieved,” Fitch said. “He’s had about 25 starts here and he has drawn inside four … I think that’s his third time.”
He will have start four from an inside alley after drawing the checks in the final.
“The inside box definitely helped him. He’s fresh and he’s still a very, very fast dog. He can run fast sectionals. I trialled him at Nowra last week over 400m and his sectionals were as good as anything can go.
“He’s still a very fast dog, it’s just how he comes out.”
Another former Victorian, Jax Bale was second with a current Victorian Well Grounded in third place.
There was more Dailly success in the Masters Meteor heats when Victoria’s leading kennel of Andrea and Tom Dailly - who will bring their stars to town on Friday for the TAB Million Dollar Chase semi-finals and the heats of the Sydney Cup - booked a berth in the $100,000 event courtesy of Providence Bale.
The veteran of 109 starts, Providence Bale was making his Wentworth Park debut and impressed in winning in 30.05s.
“You can’t knock the Daillys, they know how to produce them and they are masters at training,” said Kayla-Jane Coleman who handled the dog on Wednesday night. “You can never discount a Dailly dog.
“I looked at his form before, and he’s been placed or won in over half of his starts (22 wins and 36 placings) so he’s obviously a good dog, and the Daillys know what they are doing and they send the right dogs up and get the bickies.”
