Can Kicking Stones Finish The Year With Most Wins?

With only 19 days to go until the calendar flips into 2024, no NSW-based greyhound has won more races this year than the Julie King-trained Kicking Stones.

The son of Orson Allen x Rapid Blaze has 20 victories to his name so far in 2023 (as does straight track star Shall Not), but he will be looking to sit alone atop the standings when he lines up in the Palmerbet Short Course Final at Casino on Thursday afternoon.

“Oh wow, that is amazing, I had no idea. I would never have thought he’d won more than just about every other dog in the State but he just loves to run and I love watching him go around,” a surprised King said.

“He’s had to work for a bunch of his wins this year but he chases really hard. He’s just perfect, he’s really relaxed, you wouldn’t even know you’ve got him in the kennels and when he comes up the straight track at home, he doesn’t look like he’s exerting himself much, he just dawdles up.”

‘Albert’ as he is known around the kennel, claiming all but one of his triumphs on the unique Casino circle track for King and owner Lyn Morgan.

“Casino is certainly his go. We were going to take him elsewhere but he just loves the place so much so we thought we couldn’t stop a good thing,” King added.

“He went to Grafton for his first start but he went terribly. He went back a few times and had a win but didn’t run much time, so we thought the track didn’t suit him.” 

“He did a lot of his trialling at Casino and seemed to get used to it despite it being a little unusual. It’s a complete circle with no straights but he really flies out of the boxes and once they go past the 600m start, he just takes off.”

Kicking Stones still a co-leader in the NSW win standings alongside the Darren Sultana-trained Shall Not despite spending the last month on the sidelines with a dew claw issue.

The duo sitting two wins ahead of short course dynamos Vamoose (Sue Smith), Clare A Chance (Pam Braddon) and the Terry Roberts-trained Dynamic who all have 18 victories.

As for highlights among the remarkable run, King points to the Casino 300m track record as a moment to remember, even if there was some confusion about how the new mark came about. 

“There was a bit of uncertainty about what the actual record time was. Some people thought it was 16.46 so when he ran 16.47 in October, we all thought he'd just missed out," King said.

"But because of the confusion, I went back and found a picture of the dog [named Trapped], that held the record with the semaphore board and we worked out it the winning time that night had been entered into the system wrong.”

“So I spoke to the management at Casino, showed them the photo, and they checked it all out and said it was definitely wrong. Luckily, I was swabbed that night so it could be ruled as an official result and now he’s the official track record holder at 16.47.”

King hopeful her charge can add another win to his tally on Thursday when he jumps from Box 5 in Race 7 on the Casino program.

“He likes the inside better and he will crash across from the draw, but he’s won three times from Box 5 this year and has 20 wins from 31 starts at the track,” King said.

“If he finds the fence, he will hug the rail the whole way and that definitely suits at Casino. I hope he continues his winning ways but he’s just a dynamite little boy and to be mentioned in the same breath as dogs like Vamoose and Shall Not is just awesome.”