Caption: Chris O’Brien with kennel star Mortified (Photo: Jason Mckeown)

CHRIS O’Brien remembers the ‘learning curve’ of greyhound racing and breeding starting decades ago.

Chris is based down Nowra way and he had to go to Goulburn to land his first winner with ‘an average little bitch I bought from Joe Corte of Proper Tears fame’.

Everyone needs to start somewhere.

It’s how we progress from there that makes the difference in the tough world of greyhound racing and breeding.

Chris O’Brien has progressed … progressed to Group 1 class.

“The second dog was called Chappo, named after my mate John Chapman who had died,” said Chris. “He won a couple.”

That’s when Chris got a break of his own doing.

“John Tyrrell bred a litter by Bombastic Shiraz from Chili Berger and me and some mates formed a syndicate to buy a bitch,” said Chris.

He admits he and the boys, named the Pale Ale Syndicate, knew little of bloodlines. But he knew Tyrrell had already bred Chili Berger to Bombastic Shiraz and from it came Bit Chili the winner of the G1 National Sprint.

“By the time we got to pick, a dog that was to race as Did I Entertain, had already been sold. We bought a light brindle bitch we named Tifi,” Chris recalls.

“We paid $3500 for her.

“I didn’t know a great deal about bloodlines at the time, but Bit Chili obviously swayed me.”

Tifi was good … very good.

“She was so easy to train,” said Chris. “I’d keep her fresh, do nothing with her between races, and she would sprint 500 metres.

“But, she stayed 700 metres. And, she loved competition, race day competition.”

Chris and the boys, obviously, bred with Tifi. She had litters by Collision, twice, Mogambo, and Where’s Pedro twice. And, she became NSW broodbitch of the year.

The stars came rolling out.

Joint NSW greyhound of the year Double Twist the standout, but also among the litters was Tifia, Solar Pak, Glama Pak, Tifi For Me.

Chris sold Solar Pak.

“Someone once asked me why we went to Mogambo, but we got Solar Pak and she became the mother of Feral Franky and Good Odds Harada,” he said. “They went pretty good.

“I was running a bobcat business at the time and needed some cash, so Solar Pak was sold to Barry Ward. The rest is history.”

But Chris and the Pale Ale boys kept Tifia (by Collision).

“She was very quick, a great bitch,” said Chris. “The first time I slipped her up my straight at home, I knew she was something. She was quicker than her mother, but couldn’t stay.

“The Pale Ale Boys only kept a dog and a bitch from each litter.”

Tifia won the Magic Maiden and was third in a Ladies Bracelet.

Tifia was mated to Banjo Boy, Cosmic Rumble, SH Avatar and Where’s Pedro.

“Mating decisions have always been done as an each-way bet,” said Chris.

“Because the syndicate sells, we had to mate the bitches to get the best prices for the pups.”

The Banjo Boy pups included Banjo Tifia, who was a finalist in the G1 Golden Easter Egg.

“She had a lot of ability, won a Million Dollar Chase regional final and was a very sensible bitch, a big bitch at 30 kilos,” said Chris.

“She had a good constitution and has been a very good mum. That is something that has thrown on right down the line since we have had it.”

With Banjo Tifia, Chris reckoned Fernando Bale was an obvious choice as a sire for her.

It has produced Group 1 class Mortified a runner-up in the G2 Dapto Megastar, third in a Million Dollar Chase Consolation and finalist in the G1 Australian Cup and National Futurity.

Her breeding future is assured.

Also in the litter is Quantifiable also a G1 Dapto Megastar finalist.

They are like chalk and cheese according to Chris.

“Quantifiable is 30 kilos, blocky just like her mum, while Mortified is 26 kilos and a couple of lengths better on the track,” he said.

Chris is not one to plan ahead with matings.

“I have a Pindari Express litter from Banjo Tifia just starting to race,” he said.

“They have a double of Collision, are very quick, but I’m not sure at this stage about their strength.”

He says all the bitches from the damline, or those he has kept to breed with, are true to the line.

“But, those that were different from the line failed at stud,” he said.

He says the best producers are the best mothers.

“They always want to stay with their pups right up to the time they are 10 or 12 weeks old,” he said. “I whelp the litters and keep them here until they are 12 weeks then they go to Glenn Starr’s to be reared.”

When Chris plans a mating, he will always look to use a stud dog with a very strong damline. He likes Hooked On Scotch’s female family and has a straw for his half brother Out Of Range to use on Banjo Tifia.

“We’ve made a few mistakes in the past, one of those being we doubled up on a sire here and there that didn’t work,” he said. “But, we had good success using Collision. They are very good kennel dogs.

“This is a damline that keeps on going.

“That old saying that a good broodbitch will produce quality race dogs to an Alsatian is probably right. I always believe it is 80 percent the broodbitch and 20 percent the sire.

“The temperaments of the damline come through so often.”

Chris and the Pale Ale boys bought into the Chili Berger damline way back in 2006. Today that line continues with a class act like Mortified and with the promise of even further quality to come.

“This damline all have the same nature,” he said.

“They are easy to train, they have great temperaments, they travel great, they don’t do a thing wrong.”

And, they prove themselves very, very good race dogs.