Making just her second start over the Sandown ‘half-mile’, Real brew jumped straight to the front and despite a late charge from the chasing pack, hung on to salute in handy time of 42.28 seconds.
“I didn’t know if she’d hung on but a few of the people behind the boxes said she had. I guess they had better eye sight than me,” said Ray with a laugh.
It was just reward for Ray’s perseverance with the greyhound which had a few issues early in her career.
“It took her a while to learn about racing, but I always thought she could win in town. She actually sprints pretty well but she isn’t real quick early and gets knocked around a fair bit because there’s not a whole lot of her.
“She’d been racing well in the country lately and had a couple of good wins at Warrnambool. She just needs a clear run and a bit of luck and she got that tonight. I couldn’t be happier with her.”
Ray got back into greyhound racing a little over two years ago after a 20 year absence from the game. His son had some involvement in greyhounds and through that involvement, Ray thought he’d have another crack at training.
After training a tried greyhound ‘as a bit of practice,’ Ray was soon in the market for some pups.
“Helen (his partner) saw some pups advertised on the internet so we drove up to Bathurst and bought three of them. They were really well bred, being by Surf Lorain and out of a bitch (Mearline Ottie) that had won at Wentworth Park and had raced over all three distances. I like them if they run over a bit more ground.
“We sold shares in the three of them, mostly to family members. I think there’s about eight in the syndicate all up, and we’ve had a fair bit of fun with them.”
The three greyhounds, Real Brew, Shaw Street Race and Chocolyn Chaser, have since gone on to combine for 19 wins and over $46,000 in prize money, more than repaying the syndicate’s investment.
“The prize money is better than it’s ever been,” said Ray, who rarely has a punt and didn’t back Real Brew despite her $12 starting price.
Having worked as a boner in a knackery for his entire life, a shoulder injury from an accident on his farm has the 62 year contemplating retirement from his trade and focussing on his expanding racing team. Ray has six racing kennels on his 110 acre Camperdown property and is looking forward to filling those kennels soon.
“I have a few Premier Fantasy pups I got from Barry Smith. He’s had quite a bit of success so hopefully I can continue with that line. I’ll also breed with Real Brew when she finishes racing.”
In the meantime, Ray has more immediate plans.
“I’ll enter Real Brew for Sandown next week, maybe over the 595m if there isn’t a staying race. While she’s racing well we want to keep her going.”
