So when Peter Keane, Lindsay Brookes and Gary Thomson – over from Koroit for the December 31 Tara Raceway meeting – walked into the clubrooms for the first time since March 12, the reception they received was probably fairly predictable.
“Ah, the seagulls have returned.”
The question had been asked before whether Keane would ever live down that November 2019 night at Warrnambool when Our Ando threw away what looked to be a certain victory. Apparently not.
That was the night Keane fronted the stewards, claiming his dog had been distracted by a group of seagulls in the run up the home straight. However, he was informed that he would need to come up with a better excuse than that.
But he needed no excuses last week, Me Silly leading all the way in the Bourne Kennels Stake (400 metres) when defeating Cougar Icon by a length in 23.54 seconds.
And the year started off well the following day when kennelmate Hello Keen led all the way over 425 metres at Bendigo for an easy win in a quick 23.79 seconds.
Both greyhounds are members of the Fernando Bale x Sisco Sizzle litter, bred by the Many Winners Syndicate which comprises Keane, Brookes, Thomson, Bev Keane and Graham Dix.
Sisco Sizzle, a $4500 purchase at the 2016 Bendigo Ready2Race sale, won four races at Warrnambool prior to whelping this litter which so far has produced nine individual winners for 43 race wins.
Another Koroit trainer back at Tara Raceway last week was Peter Byrne who had Saint Destructor engaged from box one in the Progreyhoundtips.com Stake (512 m).
The son of Banjo Boy x Maisy Mac led all the way to defeat Venus And Mars by 2¼ lengths in a tidy 30.10 seconds and give the black dog his second success in the space of three days after a win at Warrnambool.
Prior to last week, Saint Destructor, a winner of more than $43,000 in stakemoney, had gone close to 12 months without a win.
And at Tara Raceway on Sunday, Garry Anders, also of Koroit, did well with his two-dog team. Ed Deeds was a smart winner of the Klaassens Contractors Stake (400 m) while Wilbur Deeds kept Vossy honest when running second in the Greyhound-Data.com Stake (400 m).
Having his first run at the track, Ed Deeds, a son of Banjo Boy x Mepunga Lana, led all the way for an easy 7¼ lengths win over the Anders-owned Fernando Deeds in a handy 23.25 seconds.
Wilbur Deeds – 124 starts to his name, along with 18 wins and $63,000 in stakemoney – is by Oaks Road. With a whelping date of August 2015 the much older half-brother to Ed Deeds chased Vossy throughout before going down by two lengths in 23.31 seconds.