Kibble and Biscuits - Greyhounds Queensland

Syd NorrisGREYHOUND racing has a colourfulhistory.Today’s big dollars industry is a far cryfrom the days I remember as a young fella,back in the 50s when the sole purpose ofracing dogs was to get a quid.It was the days of no licenses, no weights,and race meetings were loaded with urgers,smarties, punters big and small, bookies andeveryone had the same aim.It was a time when just about everyonehad a trick up their sleeve and beating thebookies was a challenge.Greyhound tracks were abuzz, excitingplaces, full of atmosphere and we loved everyday at the track.Not every time did we land that elusiveplunge.The Northern Rivers of NSW was a greatbreeding ground for greyhounds and we oftengot smart young dogs sent to us to race aroundBrisbane. If the Northern Rivers dogs couldnot handle the circle, they would come northfor straight racing up here.One of those was Ace Pilot.There was never any form guides in thosedays, and the only way punters could make aselection was by the betting, or their ownobservation on the dog’s condition.Ace Pilot, we knew, had heaps of abilityand we set him up at Capalaba.My dad Perc was in the Air Force with aguy called Perc Roper. Perc was a great guybut didn’t have much success with hisgreyhounds.We enlisted Perc to handle Ace Pilot anddad and I headed into the ring to bet and betup big.Ace Pilot was a difficult dog to controlon the way to the boxes and in those daysthere was no such thing as a headstall tocontrol a difficult dog. We used a makeshiftcontrol which was a rubber band around thedog’s mouth and tied to his collar by string.As he headed off to the start with AcePilot, I asked dad if Perc Roper wouldremember to take the rubber band off AcePilot’s mouth.My old man gave me a serve. “Of coursehe would.”Ace Pilot, gasping for air, finished a closefourth and we left our hard-earned in plentyof bookies bags.When Perc Roper arrived back at thefinish, dad asked him why he had left therubber band around the dog’s mouth.“I asked the steward at the boxes what todo and he said it must be there for some reasonso he suggested we leave it on him,” saidRoper. The steward and Perc Roper undid thestring from the collar and tied it onto themuzzle.Ace Pilot was no hope from that moment.But he bolted in next start. We hadsomething on him but nothing like we did thefirst day when the rubber band brought usundone.Trialling, as it is even today, can be a funplace and a secretive experience.We all know about hiding a smart youngpup, or a dog ready to win, from the smartiesso we can get a few points extra in the ring onrace day.But how often things can come undonethere as well.MemoriesReg Kay, Julie Edmondson and Knocka Norris.Tweed Heads always ran public trials afterthe last race on Monday nights.In those days, it would not matter howlong the trials ran for, not one person wouldleave until the very last trial was run.It was the time of champion SpottedLightning who had won that night in a race atTweed, easily the best of the day.Along come the trials and my dad had areally smart young dog called Bat Mastersona son of Magic Babe, who we were gettingready for a race at Grafton.He had to trial around the Tweed becauseit was a similar track to Grafton.At the time, in our fish shop at Brightonwe had a young girl working for us. Weorganised for her boyfriend to come to theTweed trials and handle Bat Masterson forus … all secretly of course.The young fella, Danny Hayes, who wasfully briefed by dad and myself about thesecrecy of our plans, carried it off toperfection with Bat Masterson winning thetrial by about 12 lengths in just a tick outsidethe time Spotted Lightning had run earlier inthe night in a race.Dad really put on a show when the trialwas run and won.Clark Gable would have been proud ofmy old man. He kept saying to all the clockers“how would you like to have one like that?”Journal columnist Syd Norris wasnicknamed "Knocka Norris" duringtheir football careers by teammate andracecaller Mick Cox. Reg Kay, who hasbeen a mate of Norris' for many years,recently named a dog after Syd. KnockaNorris (Elite State-Oriental Angel)brilliantly won by five lengths on debutat Capalaba. The Norris chest hasexpanded just a tad since "Knocka's"easy victory and subsequent two winsincluding a 19.58.It was an Academy Award winningperformance by dad.You can imagine all the clockers had theirglasses on young Danny Hayes who washandling Bat Masterson and wanted to knowjust what he looked like … for futurereference.It looked as though dad’s performance wasgoing to convince everyone until our youngconspirator turned up right among all theclockers and asked dad what he wanted donewith the dog’s collar and lead.A few days later we even got a phone callfrom a friend at Grafton who had heard thebuzz around the track there that BatMasterson was coming down for a race.The Grafton trip was over before westarted.Dad ran with that story for years.CaptionContestEven as acaveman, theywon't leave mealone!August winner:Selena ZammitPOSTMAN'S RIDGEGreyhound ComplexTrialling Daily(Closed Tues & Wed)Winter (May 1- Sept 30) 7.30am to 9amSummer (Oct 1 - April 30) 7am to 9amContact John and Sharyn Collins0437 789076 or 0408 789076Ph (07) 46303688The (September, 2007) Journal Page 29