An ambitious plan with a giveaway greyhound has Tasmanian trainer Scott Bryan on the cusp of Group race glory in his first campaign on the mainland.
After a string of strong performances at his local track in Launceston, Bryan made the decision to cross Bass Straight to contest the Group 2 Launching Pad with his promising pup Wynburn Wizard.
Despite neither trainer nor greyhound having raced in Victoria before, Wynburn Wizard proved too good in his Launching Pad heat, racing into Thursday night’s final and giving Bryan the biggest thrill of his brief training career.
“Getting a city winner is what we dream of back home,” said Bryan after the race.
“It’s a real challenge to come over and compete against the best greyhounds in the country. To win tonight is an enormous thrill.”
Bryan got involved in greyhound racing around 20 years ago with a mate, Tom Englund, however he stepped away after starting a family.
As the kids got a little older, Bryan got back into training – this time for Tom’s son Ben – and the three of them formed a syndicate.
“We’re plasterers by trade. The three of us are rivals in business but partners in the dogs,” said Bryna with a laugh.
“We have a small team of four race dogs plus about 16 or 17 pups, and we try to be smart about how we breed them.”
Enter the giveaway greyhound, Hayley’s Girl.
“Hayley’s Girl is a full sister to Ricky’s Angel, who had produced Rewind (Tasmanian champion who was the winner of 61 races and $232,610 in prize money). The owners were going to move her on so we said to them if ‘you’re going to do that do you mind if we have her to breed with?’
“They agreed so we decided to try and chase the line by going to (Rewind’s sire) Collide, and the result was Wynburn Wizard.”
Bryan knew early on that the greyhound was destined for bigger things and is confident about his chances in this week’s $40,000 to the winner final.
“After seven or eight starts we knew was something a little bit special.
“He didn’t get away as well as we would have liked (in his heat), but he found a few gaps and weaved his way through.
“It’s not his normal pattern to miss it like that. He rails hard and won’t move off the fence which can be bit of a worry, but hopefully things work out OK for him.”
The $58,000 Group 2 Launching Pad will be run on Thursday 17 April. The night coincides with the club’s annual ‘Easter Kids Fun Night,’ with loads of activities, games and entertainment for the whole family.
