For the Damien Smith trained Time To Fire, kennelled next door to the Murray Bridge Greyhound Racing Club, it had been a case of flying the flag for his home track in last week’s $10,000 SA Country Cup (530 metres) at Angle Park.

Run in conjunction with the TAB Adelaide Cup, the Country Cup comprised two representatives each from the Gawler, Murray Bridge and Mount Gambier clubs.

And it was Robyn Mackellar’s Gawler representative Wicket who led the way early with Murray Bridge’s other representative Galactic Nemesis in hot pursuit.

But down the back straight it was the Butcher family-owned Time To Fire who moved into overdrive along the rails before finding the front off the back and subsequently running out a five length winner over Wicket in 30.41 seconds.

For Smith, the SA Country Cup win continued the terrific run the 45-year-old trainer has enjoyed this year at tracks in SA and NSW.

In April, Apilla, a daughter of My Redeemer and Rosie Red, won the Group 1 Association Cup (720 m) at Wentworth Cup. A week later Time To Fire won over 520 metres at Wentworth Park. And a couple of weeks later he ran third in the Ladbrokes 715 final in Newcastle.

The brindle son of Fernando Bale and Mallee Dreamer then found himself down at Tara Raceway for the Mount Gambier Greyhound Racing Club’s Anniversary Cup meeting.

A short-priced favourite to win the long-running Eric Lewis Memorial (600 m), Time To Fire defeated Mango Cans by 8¾ lengths in 35.25 seconds.

Smith grew up with greyhounds in the Adelaide southern suburb of Reynella. His grandmother, Dorrie Smith of Barmera, had been heavily involved in greyhound racing while his father, Ross, is still training greyhounds to this day.

In fact, Ross had raced the 1982 Adelaide Cup winner Smithy’s Belle, a daughter of Waverly Supreme and Riverland Belle, and trained by the late Cyril Boston.

And in a bid to keep the winners coming, Damien Smith recently mated Culburra – a litter sister to Apilla and this year’s Adelaide Cup winner Mallee Beauty – with Aston Rupee.

The daughter of My Redeemer and Rosie Red won 14 races including the 2024 The Flame, which complemented the SA Festival of Fire at Angle Park.

Another recent mating for the Murray Bridge East kennels is that of Masani Girl (Orson Allen x Magical Mia), a winner of 27 races and $68,000 in prize money, with Tommy Shelby.

Smith’s first winner as a trainer goes back to 2003 when Blue Levi, a son of Head Honcho and Lady Blue Jean, was successful at Barmera over 512 metres in 30.50 seconds.

But in seeking out his first winner as an owner one has to go back to a newspaper cutting on December 5, 1984 and to when he was only four years old.

“Greyhound racing had a different form of ‘debut’ winner at Angle Park last Monday night – a four-year-old boy.

“Damien’s Gift, part-owned by little Damien Smith, in conjunction with his grandmother Dorrie, won the second Petstop Maiden (512 m) at its first race start, making Damien Smith the youngest person to own a winner in SA.”