Leading local greyhound trainer Tracie Price and his team out at Compton are certainly doing their best to offset the current downturn in SA breeding – two recently-bred litters totalling 22 pups.

Tommy Shelby’s mating with Rock It Barcia produced a litter of 13 while Rhonda Lily whelped nine by Bernardo.

Tommy Shelby won 31 races and more than a million dollars in prize money while 12-race winner Rock It Barcia boasts outstanding bloodlines, being by Barcia Bale out of Rhonda Rocks – also the dam of $700,000 winner Sennachie from her first mating to Fernando Bale.

In fact, that first mating produced a top litter that also included Alfieri, Bailey Rocks, Fernando Rocks, Gwydion, Red Rock and Rock It Fernando.

And subsequent litters by Fernando Bale included top stayer Frankie Boy, 18-race winners Donny Rocks and Kingsvale Flyer, and the Price-trained Honey Rocks, winner of the 2023 $10,000 Summer Classic (512 m) at Tara Raceway.

There’s not too much wrong with Rhonda Lily’s breeding either. By Banjo Boy, she’s out of Paua To Avoid, a winner of 26 races and traces back to Paua To Burn, a winner of 28 races and $242,000 in prize money.

Actually, Paua To Burn was trained by Steve White who some years later would find himself with another top greyhound in his kennels in the form of Sennachie.

Rhonda Lily joined Price’s kennels at the beginning of 2022 when winning on debut over 512 metres at Tara Raceway. Previously she had won five races in Victoria prior to relocating to WA where she won a further six.

While being trained by Price she won seven races at the local track over distances ranging from 400 metres to 600 metres. She also won at Warrnambool over 450 metres. All told, Rhonda Lily raced on 101 occasions for 19 wins and 41 minor placings.

But according to Price his latest foray into the breeding business hadn’t been all plain sailing.

“Rock It Barcia has struggled a bit with her 13 pups but fortunately Rhonda Lily, who had whelped her litter a couple of weeks earlier, was able to step in and help out with the feeding,” he said.

Pictures: Sarah Price.

Meanwhile, Sennachie is now making his name at stud at tracks around Australia.

At last Thursday’s Mount Gambier meeting, Koroit breeder-owner-trainer Garry Anders supplied the quinella in the Trackside Pet Meats TG1-4W Stake (400 m) with litter brothers Chester Deeds and Bert Deeds.

By Sennachie out of Beaut Deeds, Chester Deeds led all the way from box three and held out his fast finishing brother for a 1¼ length win in 23.14 seconds.

Later in the day in the Icon Signs TG1-4W Stake (400 m), Freddy Deeds, a son of Bernardo and Beaut Deeds, took up the running turning for home and held off Ollie Deeds, another of the Sennachie litter, for a 1¾ length win in a quick 22.99 seconds.

The previous week Anders had also been successful with Chester Deeds but prior to that his last winner at Tara Raceway had been back in November last year with Bert Deeds in a maiden over 305 metres.

“I hadn’t raced here for a while but I thought my dogs looked as though they needed a change of track so I opted for the finish-on-lure here at Mount Gambier and they seemed to have appreciated it,” Anders said.