By MIKE HILL MICHAEL Hickmott is one of a few trainers who can still remember racing at the opening of the current Townsville track back in the 1970s. Hickmott, who we feature in this month’s The Trainer column, was in his late teens when the loam/sand track inside the Townsville Showgrounds began operating. “I had […]
By MIKE HILL TRAVIS Elson is in the midst of what is probably the most successful period of his training career so far. Elson, who has begun 2020 in sensational fashion, is featured in this month’s The Trainer column. He is already challenging for this year’s Brisbane Trainer of the Year title, he rugged up
By MIKE HILL “IT’S raining and I’ve just come inside to have a cup a coffee,” said Casey Dargusch. It’s one of the few breaks she takes during her long days operating the Golden View greyhound complex at Churchable, west of Brisbane, with her husband Alan. They break-in, rear and whelp – and Casey, the
By MIKE HILL BARRY Kitchener ended 2019 on a high after leading in his first Group winner as a trainer. At 37 and one of the younger trainers in south-east Queensland, he experienced the thrill of Group glory when talented sprinter Zipping Cosmo gallantly won the $40,000-to-the-winner Bogie Leigh Queensland Futurity (520m) at Albion Park
By MIKE HILL BRAD Belford is developing his kennels at Gumlow – an outer Townsville suburb – into a boutique operation. The man who has been around greyhounds all his life is featured in this month’s The Trainer column. Belford only returned to training early last year after stepping away for several years when his
By MIKE HILL COMING to Australia in his early twenties was one of the best things John McCarthy has done in his life. He married an Aussie girl, Maggie, began a family and rekindled his love for greyhounds. “My dad had greyhounds when I was growing up back in England,” McCarthy said. “We lived at
By MIKE HILL UP in North Queensland Harold Hovi is referred to as ‘The Magic Man’. And it’s a tag Hovi, who we feature in this month’s The Trainer column, is happy to live with. Based at Gumlu, 134 kilometres south of Townsville between Ayr and Bowen, Hovi only ever has a few dogs in
By MIKE HILL STEVE Keep has been around greyhounds most of his life. As a nine-year-old living in Casino, NSW, he remembers helping his grand-mother Lila Simpson (mother of leading Northern Rivers trainer Peter Simpson) with her dogs. Keep, who has been in the sport almost 50 years, is featured this month in our The
By MIKE HILL IN the past 10 years Nev Jackson has travelled more than 500,000 kilometres to race his dogs. The Mackay-based administrator-trainer lives for dogs. “They keep me going,” said the 80-year-old, whose mantra is to ‘give back to the sport that supports you’. Jackson, who we feature this month in The Trainer column,
By MIKE HILL GREG Stella says he is enjoying training more now than at any other stage of his long career. Stella, who has been in the sport since 1987 and who celebrated his 56th birthday last month, is featured in our The Trainer column. “You do the best you can and take what comes,
