Yet when she was educated, Oakey Girl was written off as a worthless proposition who would never win a single race, let alone three from her first seven.
So dismal was the greyhound's future that she remained unnamed when Oakman, who has a greyhound-rearing property, took delivery of her.
"I'm a fifth-generation greyhound trainer but while I enjoy rearing puppies I was missing the social side of training dogs, taking them to the track and mixing with other trainers,'' Oakman said.
"That's why I got this greyhound and I named her after myself, because Oakey Girl is my nickname.
"She has simply responded to lots of love and she has come to idolise me because when I am in the kennel block her eyes follow me everywhere I go.
"And while she was once considered useless as a racer, I have found she is actually very easy to train.''
Oakman, the daughter of well-known Riverina trainer Rodney Oakman, gained a second placing with Oakey Girl at her race debut at Wagga on September 22 and after winning there at her next appearance on October 20 the greyhound has not looked back.
Greyhounds can often find it hard to regain winning form after a long lay-off but Proud Aussie, who won at Richmond last Sunday, has bounced back after a full year on the sidelines.
Owned and trained by Darren Northey, Proud Aussie notched his third successive win when he took out a 401m Masters' event at Richmond.
"He is two-tenths of a second slower than he was at his peak as a young dog but for a June 2019 whelping, he is going terrific,'' Northey said.
"His comeback race after a 12 months' break was at Richmond on November 13 and because he was returning after such a long break he probably got too excited and bungled the start, finishing second.
"But he has won each of his three subsequent races over 401m at Richmond and what is especially encouraging is that he has improved his time on each occasion.
"He has got race fitness now and I will take him back to Richmond next week for another Masters event."
Proud Aussie has now had 24 races for 11 wins and 10 placings, and when he won over 414m at Lithgow over 414m on March 26, 2022, he set a new track record of 23.69.
Darren Northey seems to have a knack with old racers as when Proud Aussie won last Sunday, the unplaced division included his kennelmate Tricky Shacoby, a real veteran, who turned six in August.
