It wasn’t the ending to the day that Susan Smith had expected. In fact, she had almost given up hope that her dog Vamoose would be a contender in the $75,000 Thunderbolt Final at Grafton.
“To be quite honest I was really sick all day,” said Susan who explained that when Vamoose left for Grafton with Jade Murray that morning he didn't seem 100%. "I thought of all days for him to be crook.
“They when they got up there Jade called to tell me he was down about .6kgs in weight. I thought that’s it. You can’t expect him to run well against that field when he’s not 100%, and I had virtually conceded he wouldn’t be up to it and made myself sick thinking about it all day.
“And now he’s gone and done it for me.”
He did indeed. Vamoose speared from the boxes and gave each of his seven rivals no chance of running him down, taking out the final of the world’s richest shortcourse event in 19.74s.
“He would have broken the record (19.64s) if he was 100%,” said Susan.
Rushford Ally was gallant in finishing second 2½ lengths back with West Australian Custard Monelli running home for third a further 1¼ lengths back.
Susan’s partner John Miles also had a runner in the final, but after being slowly away, Johnny Red couldn’t feature in the finish.
The couple - Susan 72, and John 81 - watched the race from their home at Branxton. Jade and his daughter Tarnee took both their finalists to Grafton.
“Jade and Tarnee came on to the scene at the trials a while back helping us when we had young dogs that were pulling John around. Jade stepped in and said: “I’ll take it for you mate,” and they have been helping us ever since both trialling and on race day. They have been great for us,” Susan explained.
Susan and John bred Vamoose. He was born in their laundry she said, and this is by far the most memorable win in her time in greyhound racing.
“I was offered big money for this dog after he had a couple of starts, but I said no, we’re in it for the fun of it at our age and this is just incredible,” she said.
“I have been in the sport for 50 years and this is my biggest win. I have never ever won anything like this. I have always wanted to win a decent sort of race and this is my first ever one.
“I did win the Consolation of the Million Dollar Chase as an owner of Shetland. It was around Covid time and I sent the dog to Peter Lagogiane to train, and he won the Consolation with Shetland.
“But this is something else. This is what we are here for. This is why we do it. This is what we get up on the frosty mornings for. This is just incredible.”
The sold-out sign went up at Grafton for the night with many describing the atmosphere on track as the best they have ever experience on a racetrack.
