October'07 - Greyhounds Queensland

IN the early 1990s Kevin Richards wasthe biggest name in Australian greyhoundracing.He stood Chariot Supreme, who toppedthe Victoria sires list for seven years, andRichards was also involved in winning fourof the state’s premier races, the AustralianCup, Melbourne Cup, Silver Chief andLaurels.Richards, 62, had weaned himself fromhis involvement which at one stageincluded eight stud dogs and a 20-strongteam of elite racers.He bought a florist shop which he soldfour years ago and is now working onreducing his golf handicap.Of course he still has still an interest ingreyhound racing.He said he still has a bet on a fewgreyhounds and selects racers he thinks willbe suitable for Western Australian racing.Richards' idea of a quiet punt is a littlefrightening because he has never beenknown to do thinks by half.He said he studies a lot of videos andfollows trainers he respects, trainers likeKelvyn Greenough, Jason Thompson,Stan Wardle and Glen Rounds.“I follow their dogs because theyproduce consistent performances. It’s notjust about backing good dogs, it’s aboutthose dogs being consistent,” he said.“There’s nothing more annoying as apunter than backing good dogs which arenot consistent. I might have a couple ofsolid bets a week.”The dogs Richards has sent to WesternAustralia include Global Warming, out ofthe Betty’s Angel litter (Brett Lee-Leprechaun Yap).The dog was bought for $10,000 andhas won $42,000 in WA.Richards said racing in WesternAustralia had taken off with a grade five atCannington worth $2900 to the winner anda dog can win three grade fives.“You can always send your dog back tocontinue racing elsewhere,” he said.Richards said he had a fair run out ofgreyhounds for a long time.Surgical implants had made the job ofthe studmaster immeasurably easier.He had up to eight stud dogs he wasusing naturally and Chariot Supreme had afull book of then 14 bitches for years.He said splitting services and muchimprovedtesting had reduced the stressload on studmasters.“It was a juggling act. You had to relyon staff, you can’t do it all yourself, andrelying on staff could be stressful,” he said.While Richards was considered the No1 studmaster of his time, his passion hasalways been racing.He won the Silver Chief with HopefulSupreme, Australian Cups with Light OfFire and Fibba and the Melbourne Cup withLight Of Fire.His Laurels success with Labyrinthcame while he was winding down hisinvolvement in the late 1990s.“I fulfilled what I wanted to do _ winthose four races,” he said.“I’ve got no incentive to train, I’mretired and I don’t have any interest inhaving a few pups in the backyard. I’vedone it. I love watching the dogs and that’smy involvement. I’m happy to sit at homeand watch the races on TV.”Richards said he still enjoyed thechallenge of punting.“I still find that stimulating. There’snothing like having your judgement backedup by a greyhound performing as youexpect _ and winning a little bit,” he said.“I watch a lot of videos, slow themdown and go through them frame by frame.Andrew ThomsonI tape every one of the dogs the trainers Ifollow put around. Sometimes I know moreabout their dogs than they do.”One achievement Richards is proud ofis having three greyhounds from the samelitter contesting the Australian Cup, HeadHoncho-Maudie littermates Fibba, Fraudand Superbee.“That was an unbelievable effort _ itmay never be done again and to win it withFibba of course,” he said.Richards said breeders’ pursuit of speedhad led to faster greyhounds but poorerchasers.“We had stud dogs like Second Stage,Chariot Supreme and Bowetzel. They threwa lot of chasers,” he said.“Bombastic Shiraz is probably the beststud dog for throwing chasers. Sometimesyou are better off with a dog that can justrun 30 second dead than a dog that can run29.86 but is not the greatest chaser.”He has always spoken his mind.He said he had last used an importedstud dog in 1986 and international sires hadlittle impact on Australian racing.Richards was disqualified for 12 monthsafter authorities found his stud dog WarySuspect had been substituted for ChariotSupreme.Dual National Distance ChampionBoronia Blossom was one well-performedgreyhound found to be sired by WarySuspect.Chariot SupremeVictoriaRichards said he had beentreated harshly by greyhoundracing authorities.“I was crucified,” he said.“It was very tough.Chariot Supreme never hadhis DNA taken. The fortunatething to come out of all thatwas there are no more no greyareas in breeding any more.”Richards said hesupported surgical implantsand other technologicaladvances since the 1980s.He said as a studmaster he oftencouldn’t read a bitch’s earbrand.“Even back then I was pushing forbitches to be micro-chipped,” he said.“I said back then litters were being rungin and all the blame was being put at thefeet of studmasters.”Richards said a leading breeder twicesent him two bitches at the same time.“They went to Chariot Supreme. Thefirst of the bitches had 13 pups and theAustralia's leading andOldest Greyhound PaperSELL YOUR PUPS OR RACING DOGSSPECIAL RATESRing GARY 1800 677 273other missed. The next time one bitch had12 pups and the other one missed,” he said.“I had to give out two return services. Iwas the only one to lose out of that andthere was no reason there shouldn’t havebeen four litters."There was nothing stopping thebreeder swapping the pups over . . . therewas no check system.’’Richards said one regret he did havewas that The Meadows was not a one-turntrack.Richards was one of three MGRAdirectors who voted for a half-circle tracklike Ballarat, Geelong or the Gold Coast.“The others were Peter Pearson andMax Scott but we got outvoted,” he said.“We were told that a two-turn trackwould be better for betting turnover but Icould never understand that argument.We’ve got so many half-circle tracks inVictoria but both city tracks are two-turn. 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