Caption: Amy Brown with Bigbad Drover and Bigbad Cash after a recent winning double at the Richmond straight. (Photo: Lachlan Naidu)

(Chase Newspaper September 2023 edition)

By GARY CLARK

WHEN we are born, we have no idea what our lives will be and for one young lady, with a family tree of success, her destiny was going to be a greyhound trainer.

Domiciled in Sydney’s west at Schofields, 24-year-old Amy Brown is a third generation of the Kelly and Brown families and was straight into an association with the dogs as a youngster.

As a kid Amy enjoyed being around her parents’ greyhounds, interacting with the pups and when she turned 16 she obtained her handler’s licence.

April 2016 was a night she remembers well.

“I boxed Big Bad Hugo for the first time at Richmond and he won,” Amy recalled.

So what is Amy’s background? Her father Steve Kelly is well known in the industry as a multi-skilled operator who, like his daughter, grew up with his Mum and Dad training greyhounds.

Steve’s mother Jan and father Kevin had success with very handy chasers back in the 1970s and ’80s including Kwa Zulu, Dry Rock, Shed Zulu, Ulatubu and Issac Hawke.

Steve obtained his handler’s and owners’s licences back in 1986 before receiving his trainers licence two years later.

The Kellys were regulars at the old Saturday Moss Vale meetings when Steve was a youngster.

In the late ’80s decided to take on a career as a lure driver and had to put aside training greyhounds.

Steve drives the lure at Richmond and has worked at Wentworth Park, Gosford and Dapto, where he has returned to in recent times.

His mechanical knowledge has also seen him working at several tracks around the NSW.

Amy’s mother Joanne Brown was also born into the sport as her mum Jean raced dogs with top trainer Les Kelly including High Parade and High Mystery, who ran second in a Group 1 Sydney Cup.

High Mystery was an impeccably bred dog by Overflow Eagle out of the freakish champion Miss High Lo.

Joanne took up training in 1985 and raced her first dog, Fabel Girl, who also gave her her first winner. Unfortunately, the bitch was retired soon after due to a heart condition and Joanne kept her as a pet.

This start that led her to more winners over the years including Disco Brumby, Carlo’s Legend, November Eagle, Spotted Fox and Johnny’s Rose.

Joanne became a veterinary nurse at Gladesville in Sydney where she has been for 17 years.

For Amy the seeds were sown and as she reached teenage years her determination to train herself became greater.

Amy was an active youngster playing netball at school and in the past six years has worked at the Richmond club in the office, helping with trials and also as a judge.

Her knowledge increased just like her father, Steve so she and her mum teamed up.

“Mum helps me so much and comes to the meetings with me but to be able to make the decisions with the training now is pretty exciting,” Amy said.

Amy also has a great love of horses and has a quarter horse at home and rides in the popular local Hawkesbury Show each year.

“My neighbour is Dennis Pethybridge who also has horses and that really got me interested,” Amy explained.

Dennis is the father of former rugby league player, Scott, who played for Penrith, North Sydney and the Warriors.

Amy is working at Hi-Pro pet foods where she has been for the past 2½ years.

She bred a litter by Feral Franky out of Chasing The Cash, a giveaway, and she had seven pups.

“Now we have our own pups from the start. I wanted to find a prefix that we could race ourselves,” Amy said.

The thought process took her back to the “Bigbad” prefix that was once used for decades by the late Gary Young, who passed away in June.

Her father worked with Gary.

“They had a great relationship and after we all discussed it I thought it would be appropriate to continue the name in Gary’s honour and we have now registered the name,” she said.

One of the pups from this litter, Bigbad Louise, won at Richmond just a couple of days after Gary’s passing.

So far the litter has four winning dogs, including Bigbad Hugo, who has won three from 14 at Richmond and Bulli, Bigbad Brumby, three wins from nine starts at Richmond, Bigbad O’Rreilly with three wins from 21 starts at Richmond and Gosford, and Bigbad Brooks.

Separate from this litter is Panda Bear, who has raced on 34 occasions for four wins and 17 placings.

Amy and her parents have a five-acre property with 10 kennels and are looking to relocate not far from where they are in Sydney’s west.

Steve and Joanne who met at a trial track 35 years ago never got married. Steve still assists with trialling days with the dogs along with his travelling work around the tracks.

Amy has a partner whom she affectionately calls ‘Red’ and any further information on that relationship is strictly in-house, Amy explains with a smile.

It is likely there will be a fourth generation of Kellys and Browns in the years ahead and like their elders it will continue to be a story worth telling.