When Ben Tait arrived at the Sandown Cup in May, he had no idea he’d be the owner of a group race finalist in July.
Tait won the major prize in the Sandown Greyhound Racing Club’s ‘Dog Scratchie’ promotion and now owns 10 per cent of the exciting greyhound, Dream It, which will line up in the final of Thursday night’s $58,000 Group 2 Macro Meats McKenna Memorial.
“It’s pretty exciting,” said Tait, 24, of his first experience of greyhound ownership.
“I knew a little bit about the greyhound before Sandown Cup night, that it had a bit of ability and was confident he’d go alright. But I never thought he’d go as well as he has so far.”
After a brief injury lay off, Dream It returned to the track with two Free For All wins at the Meadows over 525m before running a luckless fourth at Sandown Park over 595m. He bounced back to create his own luck last Thursday night by jumping brilliantly to lead all of the way and record the fastest heat win, a feat that even surprised his trainer Brooke Ennis.
“I was a worried about him being pushed off the track early. In fact I potted him on the radio and gave him no chance,” she said with a laugh.
“But they left him alone early which nice, and I thought once he got away cleanly he’d go well.”
Despite recording the fastest heat win, Dream It has been installed a $14 chance in the final, owing largely to Xylia Allen – a four time Group 1 winner and now the second highest earning greyhound in history – drawing perfectly in box 1. However Ennis is confident of her charge’s chances – as long as he jumps.
“I think he has a bit of improvement in him and everything in his trials says he should easily get the trip. He’s not as quick as Xylia Allen, but as long as he jumps he’ll be on the bunny and will give them something to chase.”
Regardless of where the greyhound known as ‘George’ finishes on Thursday night, Ennis is delighted for his new part owner.
“I try to keep Ben up to date with what’s happening but he’s usually one step ahead of me! We’ve had quite a bit of luck so far so hopefully we can keep it going.
And for Tait, he is already on the lookout for his next Group finalist.
“A lot of my friends and family follow him pretty closely and we’ll have a big group there on Thursday night.
“I’m already looking to get another pup with a few mates. It’s been a lot of fun and can’t wait to get even more involved.”
The $58,000 Group 2 McKenna Memorial will be run on Thursday 10 July. Entry is free, gates open at 6pm and race 1 will jump at 7.08pm.
