There were patrons at last Sunday’s Tara Raceway meeting who still remembered one-time Hamilton greyhound trainer Daryl Miethke who also raced at the Mount Gambier track back in the nineties.

In what was a nice touch, the Miethke clan – Alice, Cherie, Jane and Jenny, along with Brendan Lord and Dale Hewson – made the trip over from Hamilton, Casterton and Mitta Mitta to specially celebrate Cherie’s 50th birthday at the greyhound track.

And they were dressed for the occasion, wearing colourful custom-made shirts emblazoned all over with the name Cherie and whopping big number 50s.

Matriarch Alice Miethke still recalls their first greyhound.

“She was by Bowetzel out of Dunmilo and we named her Darkness. Not only was she our first greyhound she was also our best. Later on we bred four litters with her by Kid Campbell, Roy Trease, Tangairn and Street Wise. And many of her pups had ‘Darkness’ included in their names.”

Bendigo owner-trainer Aaron Blake also entered into the spirit of the occasion after My Girl Kellie led all the way in the Commercial Hotel Stake (512 m) for a 3½ length win over Our Damiro in 30.29 seconds.

And he was more than happy for My Girl Kellie to become better acquainted with the Miethke girls after she came off the track. That really made their day.

Meanwhile, it was only a few weeks ago that Princetown-based April Janssen won her first race with her first dog – Princetown Flyer – at Tara Raceway.

At the time Princetown Flyer was her only greyhound. But the team has now grown to two following the recent arrival of Swift Gift, a November 2022 daughter of Aston Rupee and Mepunga Bella, a winner of 16 races and $75,000 in prize money.

Swift Gift was a gift to April from Hall Of Fame breeder Barry Smith after the fawn bitch had been struggling to run out a strong 500 metres in Victoria.

She had made her Tara Raceway debut the previous week, pleasing connections with a third placing behind Sean’s Matilda over 400 metres.

Back last Sunday for the Gordon Refrigeration Maiden Stake (400 m), Swift Gift quickly put herself into the race from box eight before taking up the running off the back and going on to a 2½ length win in 23.87 seconds.

April was not in attendance but there was still plenty of the family on course to celebrate the win – father Paul Herry, along with Riki, Paula, Ben and young handler Louis Janssen all pretty happy with the result.