Fearless Swan is proof that good things come in small packages.
At just 25kg, Fearless Swan is one of the lightest greyhounds in racing, but despite her lack of size she is quickly emerging as one of the state’s most exciting youngsters. At just 22 months of age Fearless Swan has already won seven of her 10 career starts. Cheered on by an enthusiastic crowd of owners, friends and fans, she chalked up her first win at Sandown Park last Sunday in a slick 29.39.
“She’s not real big but she’s a goer and she seems to be getting quicker and quicker with every start. It just shows you don’t have to be the biggest dog when you have ticker,” said part owner Luke Clohesy.
Fearless Swan, or ‘Ava’ as she is better known at home, is the first greyhound raced by the Ten Swans syndicate. Born out of a successful punters club formed by associates of the Stratford Football Netball Club (‘the Swans’), the syndicate decided to invest some of their winnings in a greyhound.
“A friend of one of the guys in the syndicate knew of a litter of well-bred pups for sale,” explained Clohesy.
“One of the other guys in the syndicate has known (trainer) Don Hay for years and knew he was a good trainer. Don had actually retired from training but decided to train one for his grandson and we managed to convince him to train for us, as long as we bought something with a bit of breeding.
“When Donny went there to have a look at the pups, two of the dogs ran under the house and she came straight up to him. And that was that.”
While the syndicate enjoys a successful start to Fearless Swan’s career, of greater enjoyment is the way friends and family have come together to share in that success. Fearless Swan has quickly built a large and enthusiastic fan base.
“There’d be 25 of us here today with wives and kids and even some people we know who have nothing to do with the syndicate have come along to see her,” said fellow part owner Clint Gartung following her most recent win.
“It’s a bit fun, we’re all having a catch up here today that we probably wouldn’t have had if she wasn’t running really because it’s hard to get together. My son is her biggest fan, all of the kids love it they don’t stop talking about her,” said
“She was the runt of the litter but she’s proven a little pocket rocket, she’s a jet.”
Despite an impressive start to her career – her last three wins have been in the fastest time of the day – the excited ownership group have no plans beyond Thursday night.
“Don has the dog’s best interests at heart,” continued Gartung.
“Before her first start, Don said to us ‘I want to run her at Sale so you can all go.’ I said ‘no, run her where you think she needs to run.’ We’re going to go to see her whenever we can so we just let him look after that.”
Based on what Fearless Swan has done on the track so far, the crew from Stratford will be will be spending a lot more time in the city.
Fearless Swan leads start to finish to win her first race at Sandown Park
The Watchdog rates Fearless Swan a $3.10 favourite in race 4 on Thursday night. Click here for your free Watchdog form guide.
