Dennis Stewart trained his first winner on New Year's Day, 1955, and the 88-year-old is still winning races with Off The Richter leading throughout in an impressive Wentworth Park debut on Friday night.
Trained by Dennis and his son Gary Stewart, Off The Richter ran wide on the first corner but drew away to win a 520m fifth grade in a nippy 29.99, running home in 11.82.
The youngster, whelped in April 2022, could develop into a candidate for the heats of the Group One Ladbrokes National Derby at Wentworth Park on January 12.
"I got off to a good start in this sport because I won at WYONG on January 1, 1955, with the first greyhound I raced, a bitch called Rhonda Lou,'' Dennis Stewart explained.
"But the best dog I've had was Dusty Toro, a very fast sprinter who won 25 races.
"We bred Off The Richter from Kermaro, a bitch we bought as a puppy for $5000.
"Kermaro was pretty handy and won a dozen races on five different tracks, while Off The Richter is from her first litter, sired by Barcia Bale.
"She is due in season soon and we are mating her with Hooked On Scotch, who is a son of Barcia Bale.
"Off The Richter has four siblings who can run a bit too so we figured by mating Kermaro with Hooked On Scotch we will get a similar breeding cross.''
Off The Richter was a heavily backed $2 favourite on Friday night, not surprising as the dog had clocked 29.85 in a solo trial at Wentworth Park prior to his race debut.
Trainer Jason Magri reckons it was no surprise Zipping Optimise handled box seven superbly in his eight-length demolition of a fifth-grade lineup at Wentworth Park on Friday night.
"That was his seventh start and he has had box seven in all but one of those races,'' Magri said.
"It's unbelievable that a dog could get the same box in six out of seven races so if he hasn't learned how to handle that draw by now there would have been no hope for him.''
As a December 2021 whelping, Zipping Optimise is close to being a perfect age for next month's group one Ladbrokes National Derby series at Wentworth Park.
While Zipping Optimise was slowly away on Friday he still managed to record 29.91 for the 520m and Magri rates him not far behind his much-vaunted brother.
Big Thunder could hardly have been more impressive in winning a stewards' trial at Wentworth Park on Friday night, an assignment due to receiving a failure to pursue due to injury endorsement on November 25.
On Friday the Helen Rylands-trained dog won a three-dog trial, leading all the way from box three and clocking early splits of 5.45 and 13.96 before winning in a tidy 30.04.
Big Thunder raced wide from box three so could be well-suited if drawn near the outside when he returns to racing at Wentworth Park.
In Friday's trial, Big Thunder scored by two lengths from the promising unraced former West Australian Brother's Keeper, who railed well from box one and chased the winner all the way.
