Caption: Glen Mollison (pictured) is still celebrating after his first venture into greyhounds – Do It – won the Adelaide Cup. And it’s all thanks to his workmate and co-owner Jarrod Sharp.

By DAVID BRASCH

VICTORIA\’S premier trainer Jeff Britton sat in the pub in Kaniva shouting the bar … all nine fellow drinkers.

Kaniva, population 803, is 413km from Melbourne and 313km from Adelaide.

So, what was Jeff Britton doing in Kaniva late on a Friday night shouting the bar?

He was celebrating victory in the Group 1 Adelaide Cup, of course, and the fact he had provided the winning quinella, litter brothers Do It and Mr Fix It, should not have been lost on those nine others in the bar.

Kaniva is just 25km from the South Australian border and that is where Jeff was forced meet his mate Nathan Wilson, from Pinnaroo in South Australia, who collected the three Cup finalists Britton and partner Angela Langton had in the race.

Pinnaroo is 176km from Kaniva.

\”Jeff had a permit to go to South Australia, but he didn\’t have clearance to get to Angle Park,\” Angela told Chase Magazine. \”He needed a Covid test clearance.

\”He got the test done, but the test clearance did not come back in time. He decided to go to Kaniva, hand the dogs over to Nathan, and then book a motel room and wait for Nathan to bring them back after the Cup.\”

Wilson is in a Covid bubble and was allowed to cross into Victoria to collect Do It, Mr Fix It and Weblec Blazer for their Cup assignment.

So Jeff resigned himself to watching the Cup on TV in Kaniva and when Do It downed Mr Fix It by three and a quarter lengths, it was time to celebrate.

The Kaniva pub was restricted to 10 patrons so Jeff lashed out and \”shouted the bar\”.

Do It\’s victory was the start of a celebration for owners Jarrod Sharp and Glen Mollison, Jarrod a long-time client of the Britton kennel, Glen a first-time owner.

Jarrod is operations manager for shipping container business Westlink and Glen is senior forklift driver at the company.

Jeff Britton trained 2004 Group 1 National Derby winner Pacific Sky for Jarrod and they have been the greatest of mates ever since.

For Jarrod it was yet more proof of the ability of training partners Jeff Britton and Angela Langton to churn out winners and superstars.

\”To win with my friends is something. Jeff is one of my best mates. Jeff and Angela are not my trainers, they are my friends,\” said Jarrod.

\”To win the National Derby with Pacific Sky was fantastic, but I\’ve been desperate to win another Group 1 ever since.

\”Do It\’s win is the monkey off my back.\”

Jarrod has raced plenty of winners since Pacific Sky and that fact was never lost on Glen Mollison.

Glen and his family have been sporting fanatics. Lacrosse is their game and Glen has been a successful coach in the game.

Jarrod had already decided to buy one of the pups by Fernando Bale-Alpha Demeter for $7000. He gave Glen the chance to go halves.

\”Glen had been asking me about coming into shares with me in a dog for some time,\” said Jarrod.

\”When I told him about the pup we could buy, I didn\’t sugar coat it, told him everything it would cost.

\”He had the money for me the next day. I brought to work a video of the two pups left to choose from and Glen picked Do It.\”

But both Jarrod and Glen gave the winner\’s cheque scant regard. The satisfaction of victory in a Group 1 more than enough.

\”I told Glen don\’t get another one,\” said Jarrod of any plans to further Glen\’s greyhound interests.

When Covid hit the world early in 2020, it presented problems for owners of racing animals. Glen needed to be hands on. He loved nothing better than brushing Do It with a special hand glove he had bought for the purpose.

Glen got around the Covid problem by getting a handler\’s license just so he could get to the races, catch his dog, and more importantly see his dog race.

The Group 1 victory was special for both men.

Glen\’s family caught him on video creating havoc in the family\’s lounge room watching the win. It could have gone viral on social media but for a few choice words of satisfaction.

Best that be left \”unheard\”.

For Jarrod it was yet another victory shared by he and his \”best friends\”.

\”I\’ve been close to all the Britton family for many years,\” said Jarrod.

\”I\’ve had dogs trained by Robbie and even stayed with Linda over in WA for six months helping out there.

\”Linda was one of the first callers to ring me after the Cup win.\”

Jarrod is appreciative of all involved in the victory.

\”One of the first phone calls I made was to Chris Georgiou in Queensland who bred the litter.\”

Jarrod laments he and Glen and their families could not celebrate the Cup win together.

\”A big bear hug between us would have been the first thing to happen,\” he said.

Glen was so emotional about the win he headed off first thing the next morning to see the sun rise over a nearby beach.

It was Glen\’s way of realising what had just happened in his life. He\’d won the Group 1 Adelaide Cup with Do It the first greyhound he has ever owned.

It was the 13th win in 43 starts for Do It and brought his stakes tally to $194,000 … not a bad first entry into the sport.