The death last week at 77 of long-time Koroit greyhound man Tom Walsh brought back memories of his terrific stayer Mystic Hope, a granddaughter of Hall Of Fame inductee Strand Belle.

Bred in the district by Barry Smith in early 1984, Mystic Hope certainly boasted beautiful bloodlines, being by Bowetzel out of Mystic Strand. All told, she won 21 races, including the 1987 National Distance Championship at Olympic Park when trained by Len Ketelaar.

Walsh subsequently bred six litters with her – by Walkabout Sid (2), Hay Dinney, Buka Sunset, Bulgana and Head Honcho.

Tracing down the line of the Buka Sunset mating was a litter by Digital out of Courtney Sunset (Moonambel Prince x Mystic Sunset) which included a greyhound called Kirkstall Jane.

In early 2010 Kirkstall Jane found her way over to Glencoe where Barry Shepheard – these days a member of the Greyhound Racing SA stewards’ panel – took over the training of the white and black bitch.

A couple of months later Kirkstall Jane gave her trainer his biggest home-track success when defeating the Portland pair of Swarming and Drone in the Mount Gambier Cup final (512 metres) in a time of 30.20 seconds.

And through their involvement, Walsh’s two boys, Rob and Mick, continue to carry on the family greyhound tradition with Rob recently successful at Mount Gambier with Saint Prue.

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