Qld's 2004 Greyhound of the Year - Greyhound-Data

So you want to buy a greyhound?Before anyone starts looking at greyhounds for sale theyshould sit down and analyse why they are buying a greyhound.Because only once you know what you are looking for doyou know what features the greyhound you are going to buyshould have.For example if 90 percent of the races inyour area are over 300 to 500 metres, thendon’t look for greyhounds whose form isover 700 metres.As a greyhound trainer in the Brisbanearea I always looked for a dog with Gabbaprospects because this is where the greatestfinancial return lies.Although I frequently raced greyhoundson the outside tracks, I would not considerbuying an animal that did not have Gabbapotential.Whether the greyhound realises thatpotential is another thing, but at least start out with one thathas a chance.Since approximately 60 percent of Gabba races are runover 558 metres, 30 percent over 704 metres, and only 10percent over 420 metres, then I would be looking for a strong558m greyhound and if it could run 704m then that would bea bonus.Many people buy a greyhound and then try to make itadapt to the situation they bought it for.They have the concept of buying a greyhound the wrongway around and if they had looked at the situation more closelythen they would have made a wiser purchase.When we have worked out what we are looking for, andonly then we go looking at greyhounds for sale.There are a number of rules which, if we adhere to, wewill eliminate 90 percent of the disasters associated withbuying a greyhound.I will list these rules and thenanalyse them in detail.1 Look for a consistentgreyhound.2 Don’t buy an injury pronegreyhound or crock.3 Don’t buy a greyhoundwith any history of fighting ornon-chasing.4 Go for a dog with a goodnature.5 Don’t buy a greyhound with a problem.6 Wait for the right greyhound to come along.Before I looked at any greyhound I always looked as itsperformance card first.If the greyhound has had 15 to 20 starts then this willprobably tell you more about the dog than anything else.Consistency: Look for a 25 percent winning record andthe greyhound should have been placed in at least another 25percent of its starts.The greyhound with lots of wins and no placings givesyou the idea it may be a bit “pea-hearted” and doesn’t alwaystry.Also look at the boxes it has won from. If all the wins arefrom the one or eight box be wary.You can’t draw the box to suit the dog and you want agreyhound that will go from any box.If there are long spells between races then the greyhoundmay be injury prone or may not back up quickly after races.You should look for a greyhound you can race once a week atleast.Some greyhounds are injury prone and you should have itchecked by a greyhound vet before signing.If the dog has had three or more significant (major) muscletears or toe injuries, then I would advise against buying it.Back in February 1985, The Journal ran an article by then leading Gabba trainer GrahamBeh on what criteria he utilised when buying a racing greyhound. Graham is well known tothe industry as one of the leading vets in the country.He was also premier trainer at the Gabba in the mid-80s, but rarely if ever boughtpuppies, hardly ever bred with a bitch, and generally bought only tried racing dogs.The Journal reprints that 1985 article for today’s readers. It makes reference to theGabba because that’s where we were racing at the time. Obviously prizemoney figures, andpurchase prices have changed, but Graham’s successful formula never did.Some people get great satisfaction in nursing along injureddogs but I would much prefer to be racing a dog than sittingat home ice-packing or machining an injury.These injury prone dogs rarely ever become sound andstay sound. Most cases you are continually patching them up.Those greyhounds with a history of fighting or non-chasingshould be avoided at all costs because rarely do they mendtheir ways.While we all like to think we can change a dog’s bad habitsand get them going, most attempts are doomed to failure.Look for a greyhound with a quiet and relaxed nature.These greyhounds are normally easy to train and have a greaterchance of making the grade.Most of the top greyhounds I have known have beenrelaxed dogs. Also it is no coincidence that the nervous, yappy,hyper-excitable animal is generally a speedy squib.Greyhounds with a particular problem also should beavoided if this problem willaffect its performance.Animals in this categoryare those who are very slowbeginners, those who are verywide runners, also those whohave heartworm or some othersignificant problem.Owners should not be in ahurry to buy a greyhound.What often happens is that an owner will approach his trainerto buy a dog for $X and within a week or two the trainer hasa dog for the buyer because he doesn’t want to lose theopportunity of another dog in his kennel.If the owner is patient and the trainer realises this, he cantake his time to select a greyhound most suitable for theowner’s needs.If you are patient you will get the dog you want, if not youwill end up with the dog you deserve.The points which I have just listed mostly tell you aboutwhat dogs not to buy.What we have done is eliminate most of the dogs whowill not make the grade.The smart people will say “you have eliminated 95 percentof the greyhounds for sale, there are none left”.On the contrary, there are 5 percent left and these 5 percentwill provide you with a 75 percent success rate of buying agreyhound which will pay its way and give a profit on yourinvestment.A final word on selection of your purchase. Buy locally ifthe right dog is available in preference to interstate as it iseasier to gather information on local dogs than on interstateones.And also you will have an idea of how it handles the Gabbatrack if it has raced there.Finally, how much should you pay forthe greyhound?I have always based this on howmuch prizemoney the dog could beexpected to win and not on what couldbe won punting.Keep in mind that a consistent firstor second grade Gabba greyhound couldbe expected to win $20,000 to $30,000at today’s level of prizemoney.The price should be divided, 80percent on the dogs’ achievements and20 percent on its potential.By this I mean if the greyhound is only a 33.20 Gabbadog at present, don’t value it on what it could win as a 32.70Gabba dog.Estimate what a sound, consistent 33.20 Gabba dog couldwin and add only a small amount for improvement.Then divide this figure by roughly one third and it willgive you the top price you should pay for the dog.In any investment it is important you buy at the right priceand never more important than here.Some people believe buying a successful dog is a matterof good luck, but the wise people who consistently buy wellknow that it is 80 percent judgement and 20 percent goodfortune.The Journal decided to put Graham’s formula to a test ata recent Albion Park Thursday night meeting on February10. We went for only lower grade races ... dogs with theirfuture ahead of them.We purposely did not include the Top Grade races.These are those who fitted the Beh criteria.Flood Hawk (6-3-2-0)Over (21-8-5-3)Mature Attitude (14-4-4-2)Don Paco (13-8-2-0)Mr Monk (11-4-3-1)Nice Portrait (25-7-5-7)Devine Gem (40-21-8-5)Pretty Me (9-4-4-0)Delta’s Dream (19-5-5-5)Silver Harbour (16-4-5-3)Pitch Black Zac (19-6-3-5)Gozo Chanel Line (37-16-10-4)Spirit Of Omar (39-9-8-6)Never Guess (30-11-7-6)Explosive Touch (16-5-4-2)Miss Ross (15-6-2-4)Just Kissy (22-6-5-6)Unpainted Angel (19-5-3-4)Obviously, under Beh’s criteria, each of the above dog’swould be assessed for their soundness, ability to handle AlbionPark etc ... and the deal then done.It is interesting to note on the same program, very smartdogs like Runaway Sally, Classy Creek, Heap’s Good,Jimbooma Jet, Real Trick, Amby’s Love, Timmy Says,Railroad Ghost etc did not pass the criteria because their winsand placings ratio was not up to the required percentage.You, as an advertiser, will haveaccess for your advertisingneeds to the WORLD!And, unlike other publications,it's a service we offer you, ouradvertisers, for FREE!Your adverton the WWWThat's right! Every page of The Journal is on the GRA'swebsite at www.graq.org.auEvery edition of The Journal will be posted onto the GRA'swebsite from the 15th of each month following publication.The (March, 2005) Journal Page 33