May'09 - Greyhounds Queensland

Proposed RacingChangesBy now most licensees will be aware ofthe changes to the racing calendarproposed by Greyhounds Queensland.It is proposed that, from July this year,TAB racing will start on a regular basis inNorth Queensland at the Townsville track.In South-East Queensland we willconduct six TAB meetings, down from thepresent seven.In the Brisbane Club’s discussions withGreyhounds Queensland regarding thisproposal, we have made it very clear therewas to be no net reduction in totalprizemoney to South-East Queenslandparticipants should such a move occur.This has been agreed to and the fundsfrom the Class 3 meeting and the two Class1 Mondays have been distributed acrossthe remaining six meetings.Under this proposal the weekly Class1prizemoney will increase on average by 3%,with Greyhounds Queensland now alsofunding the prize money for all Groupevents in Queensland.The Class 2 prizemoney allocation willincrease by approximately 20%, with gradedraces proposed to be $1000 to the winner.The Class 3 prizemoney allocation willincrease by approximately 30%, with gradedraces proposed to be $700 to the winner.Maiden prizemoney will also receive anLukeGatehouseincrease of 40%, with proposed prizemoneyof $600 to the winner.The proposal also aims to boostunplaced prizemoney.Prizemoney within races will berestructured on a ratio of 70%, 20%, 10% forthe first three placegetters, so there will besome movements within existingprizemoney to accommodate this ratio.Gold Coast CupSponsorAUSTRALIA’S largest independentprinting and office supplies company,Imagetec has signed as a major sponsor ofthe Brisbane Greyhound Racing Club.The company, which has operations inBrisbane and the Gold Coast, has securednaming rights to the Group 2 Gold CoastCup to be held on July 2 and 9 at AlbionPark.Imagetec’s commitment to the GoldCoast Cup is a great boost for theQueensland greyhound racing industry andin sustaining the future of this race, whichis a key event not only in Queensland buton the national racing stageSuspension StatisticsInjury StatsTotal Injury SuspensionsMarch 1.31%2009 to date 1.78%2008 2.04%Injury Suspensions over 30 daysMarch 0.07%2009 to date 0.18%2008 0.21%Marring/Failing to Pursue/Unsatisfactory PerformanceFebruary 0.51%2009 to date 0.67%2008 0.87%A DECADE or more ago, Muriel Daltonwent on holiday in New Zealand.When she got home, she was agreyhound trainer. It was as easy as that.Muriel’s long-time partner TerryGuymer has been a dog man on and off fordecades.The pair live on three acres atWonglepong near Canungra.“There was a guy who walked past ourproperty every day with his dog,” saidMuriel. “Terry was helping him from timeto time. Eventually he just signed the dogover to us. I became a greyhound trainer.”Named Mulli Son (Your Attention-Playing Free), he won a dozen races aroundTweed and the NSW country tracks.“He was unbeaten at Kempsey,” saidMuriel. “He was just an average dog whocould gallop a bit. At Kempsey he could comefrom any box and win. He just loved theplace.”Muriel was hooked from the day MulliSon turned up at her home.And 11 years later she still is.“Terry and I have been together for 20years,” said Muriel. “He knows he comessecond behind the dogs. I just love them.”That’s probably Terry’s fault. From themoment Mulli Son walked into theWonglepong property, Terry has beeninstilling into Muriel that to get winnersyou must be dedicated.It has been a good lesson learned.No one likes tripping around thecountry tracks more than Muriel.“I just love the day out at those tracks,”she said. “Tracks like Moree, Kempsey andthe like.”Her first quality galloper was calledYahshua (Splinter Lad-Polly’s Desire)which she got from Steve Board.“Steve is a great breeder and dog manand his whole family keeps producingreally good dogs,” said Muriel.“Steve was going to retire Yahshua. Iasked him if I could take her home. I fell inlove with her straight away. She was one ofthose dogs who didn’t really take to men.”Yahshua blossomed under Muriel’scare, attention and love and landed the 2004Muriel's devotedto her dogsCasino Cup winning heat and final.“We won 23 races with her at Casino,Tweed, Moree … you name it.”Yahshua had a couple of litters but leftlittle of consequence. One, Del Mar, madethe final of the Brett Memorial at AlbionPark running unplaced behind Pinch Bar.Terry Guymer drives his own concretetruck but still finds time to run anexperienced hand over Muriel’s dogs.“Yahshua just loved him,” said Muriel.After Yahshua came a number of handydogs like Council Approved, Jumping Flashand then Ultra Jet another bitch Muriel gotfrom Steve Board.“We got her as a maiden who had racedonly a couple of times,” said Muriel. “Eventhough she was lightly raced she won ninefor us.”Ultra Jet (Eureka Man-Now Amigo) wasbeautifully bred.She was a litter sisterto Board’s Black Soldier,runner-up to Hotshot in aGold Coast Cup, andAlmost Perfect who wasthird to Ashigga in aShepparton Cup and afinalist behind Questionsin a Coca-Cola Cup atAlbion Park.Rapid Journey finishedsecond to Questions inthat Cup.This is the damline ofRed Mystique, RockingRomero, Mibecca andWiljarra.With such pedigreecredentials behind her,Muriel just had to get alitter out of Ultra Jet.She went to Elle’s Commando to producea bitch called Tia and her brother BigCanungra.“Terry names all the dogs and he loves togive them short names,” said Muriel.Tia won nine of her first 11 starts andwas 2004 Gold Coast greyhound of the year.Big Canungra was just that. At 40kgs hewas best on the big tracks at the Gold Coastand Capalaba.Tia’s first litter to Solve The Puzzleincludes an extra smart galloper called Vee.“We only had two pups from the litterand the other one died,” said Muriel. “Veewon his maiden at Casino but then had twobad falls at Albion Park and Casino threedays apart.“I thought we were going to struggle toget him back from that. He lost his confidenceand it took us a while for him to come right.”But Vee has done just that winningsince at Ipswich, Tweed and Albion Park.“He got a couple of rails boxes in a rowat Ipswich and that really helped hisconfidence. He won both,” said Muriel.Tia has a litter by Most Awesome juststarting to race. She produced two dogs andfive bitches of which Muriel kept three,Byron Miller and Peter Wilson buying theothers.“The two bitches Kee and Why have wontheir maidens at the Tweed and Kee won themaiden final with Why running second,”said Muriel.“Their brother Xia is 36kgs and he’llgo to the Tweed to start his career becausehe’ll want a big track.”Unfortunately Tia developed a tumor onher ribs and had to be put down recently.Muriel has Kee and Why to continuethe damline in the future.Muriel also sends a number of dogsnorth to Cairns club president EmmaO’Connor to race.One of those was Behind Blue Eyes(Just The Best-I’m Puzzles) a half sister torecord breaking, Group winningSuperman. The bitch was 17 races forEmma in Cairns and now Muriel has her athome waiting for her to come into season.“Terry does all the pedigree matching,”said Muriel. :”I do the rearing and playingwith the pups.”Muriel admits she can get into troublefrom Terry for spoiling her dogs.“I absolutely love them,” she said.“They are addictive. I spend more time onethem than I do on my housework. As I said,Terry knows he comes second to the dogs.”But it’s also worth it.VEELight Of FireSolve The PuzzleMagic RiddlePuzzle PrizeMalawi’s PrincePrincess RemaRema RoseTiaOsti’s IdolElle’s CommandoElle ShantyEureka ManUltra JetNow AmigoThe (May, 2009) Journal Page 4