Penny Pinto, a recent winner over 512 metres at Tara Raceway, was only seven months old when her owner, John Burow of Penshurst, passed away suddenly at home back in September 2022.

He had purchased the brindle daughter of Fernando Bale and Weeona Dotty as a pup from Shepparton East breeder Marien Sullivan. The dam never raced but her litter included Weeona Bulldozer who won 22 races and close to $100,000 in prize money.

Following Burow’s death, it was next door neighbour Brendan Casey – also a long-time greyhound racing participant – who had assumed the ownership and training of the then unnamed Penny Pinto.

Her first win at Mount Gambier came on cup day last year when she was successful over 400 metres. But as Casey tells it, following a couple more wins soon after, the rot really set in.

“Actually, her most recent win here over 512 metres when she beat Anna Rhode in 30.04 seconds had been her first in almost 12 months and ended a horror run with her.

“A stopper bone injury had kept her off the scene for some time and then twice she was hit with seasonal issues which also cut into her time on the track. She seems to have shaken off her injury and hopefully we’ve now got on top of the seasonal problem,” he said.

Penny Pinto, who has now won seven races, is a litter sister to Jetstream Icon, a winner of 21 races and $76,000 in prize money.

Casey’s involvement in greyhound racing goes back 20 years to when a chance collect off a daily double at the gallops saw him purchase a pup by No Intent out of Mepunga Image.

He later carried the unlikely racing name of Busted Sav and spent the majority of his racing career at Lara with Ed Stanley training him for Casey.

“It was a pretty good introduction to the sport for me with the fawn dog winning six races at Sandown Park, The Meadows and Cranbourne,” he said.