Geoffrey Sheather, Ted McDonald and greyhound Manila Beef are all savvy veterans of the chasing caper.
Sheather, 82, has trained dogs ever since he can remember.
McDonald, 84, bought his first greyhound all the way back in 1954.
While Manila Beef, better known as ‘The Beef’, has had 123 race starts and is fast approaching six-years of age.
Together, the terrific trio has enjoyed “a hell of a ride” over the last few years as a dominant force on the NSW Masters circuit.
McDonald owns ‘The Beef’, Sheather trains him, and the dog has raced almost exclusively in the Masters category ever since he met the threshold of four-years of age.
The owner/trainer pairing adamant their boy still retains his zest for chasing despite getting pretty long in the tooth.
“How can you turn a dog out and say he’s had enough when he keeps winning like he does. We don’t want people saying we’re over racing him, but he just loves going around,” McDonald said.
“Geoff [Sheather] is a great conditioner and he looks after his dogs really well. And even if he does finish up, I’ve got no chance of getting him back anyway because Geoff’s wife Dianne loves that dog more than any of us,” he laughed.
Sheather concurs.
“The wife [Dianne] certainly spoils him. Every time he races he gets a few bits of vegemite toast on his bed when he gets home. As soon as I pull up in the car he nearly pulls me head over heels to get to that vegemite toast,” Sheather said.
“But he just loves to run. When I put another dog on the walker he plays up because he wants to get on there too. He’s first in the van every time we head out to the races and most importantly, he still chases like there’s no tomorrow,” Sheather said.
Sheather resides in Goulburn, about 200km South of Sydney.
‘The Beef’ races every couple of weeks, usually at Dapto, Nowra or Richmond.
And of late, he wins more than he loses.
“He won again at Nowra on Monday night and it was his fourth win in his last six races. He’s also run in the top three in 19 of his last 21 starts. That’s remarkable really isn’t it. I know he’s racing in Masters class now but sometimes you strike a handy field and he’ll knock them over,” Sheather said.
The special partnership began back in 2019 after McDonald had a decent win on the nags.
“I had a bit of a windfall on a horse called Santa Ana Lane and wanTed to buy myself another greyhound,” McDonald said.
That’s where Sheather came in.
“I trained a couple of dogs off and on over the years for Ted so he asked me to buy him a new one,” Sheather said.
“So I starTed checking the web every day. He used to ring me once a week asking the same thing, “Have you got me a dog yet? Have you got me dog yet?”. I found Manila Beef one day and liked the way he chased, so we got him sent up from Victoria and off we went,” Sheather said.
Manila Beef’s record down South was solid without being spectacular.
Five race wins from 22 starts didn’t exactly spring off the page, but it was his will to chase that got Sheather’s attention.
So ‘The Beef’ headed North, and it’s fair to say Sheather and McDonald weren’t overly impressed with his first trial for the new camp.
“When we bought him, I told Geoff I’d come to Goulburn and watch him trial. He didn’t go all that flash and I remember turning to Geoff and saying “I think we’ve paid a bit much for this fella” and we both had a laugh,” he said.
But success wasn’t far away.
A first-up miss at Goulburn was written off as bad luck, with McDonald determined to cash in second time around.
“I had a bit on him in that first run and thought he was stiff. So he came back the next week and I said to Geoff “he’s a certainty” but he wouldn’t back him. I got 13 to 1 about him so it was nice little go. I ended up buying a car too. A lot of blokes call their car ‘The Beast’, well mine was called ‘The Beef’,” McDonald said.
From there it was a steady stream of wins for the son of Banjo Boy out of Avondale Dancer, with his tenacity still on full show on Monday night at Nowra as he brought up his 42nd career victory.
“When we got him I was hoping he could run a bit and he’s proved he can. I’ve never had a dog chase like him and I’ve had dogs for over 60 years. He’s one of a kind that’s for sure,” Sheather added.
“It’s just been great fun. You always think this could be the last time he goes for a run around as retirement is closer than further away, but touchwood, he’s standing up OK for now,” Sheather said.
“At the end of the day, he’s still fit and wants to race. The Masters only came about in the last little bit but I love them, especially now that I’ve got one going around and running well in them,” he said.
As it stands, Manila Beef has won over $80,000 in prizemoney and continues to be one of the poster boys for Masters racing in the State.
And although the final curtain call on his racing career isn’t far away, McDonald believes ‘The Beef’ will tell them when it’s time to hang up the collar and lead.
“’The Beef’ isn’t the fastest dog I’ve had, but I tell you what, he is the best chaser I’ve seen by far. And so long as he loves racing, who are we to stop him,” McDonald said.
