Ned Snow’s Oh Oh Range holds off Super Estrella to win his heat of the Group 1 $225,000 TAB Queensland Cup (710m) final at Albion Park (Photo: Box 1 Photography)  

By PAT McLEOD

WITH a family connection to bushranger Ned Kelly, veteran south-east Queensland trainer Keith ‘Ned’ Snow would love to hijack tonight’s (Thursday’s) Group 1 $225,000 TAB Queensland Cup (710m) final at Albion Park with potential superstar Oh Oh Range.

But Snow is reining in his expectations.

“He (Oh Oh Range) is learning all the time and he is a very honest dog,” said Snow. “But the other dogs did run a lot better times (in the heats). If he can run a place, I will be happy.”

With two wins from his last two outings at Albion Park, ‘Stan’ (kennel name) is growing into the expectation that Snow has for the Out Of Range – Aussie Diamond blue dog, whelped in March, 2020.

“He has just turned two, so is just a baby,” he said. “He still has hopefully another 18 months of good racing ahead of him.

“He will be a bigger, tougher, stronger dog in the months ahead, if I look after him.

“He has pulled up really well after the heat win. It is just great to be in the final.

“I am happy with the box (4) too. Because the two on the inside (Bedrock Fred and Super Estrella) have got plenty of speed and the three does not come out, so he might get a good sit behind the leaders early.”

Snow, now in his mid-70s, first began training in far north Queensland when he was 28. He has had moderate success across the years, but at the moment he is experiencing a purple patch. Tonight at ‘The Creek’ is a classic example.

Oh Oh Range will be campaigning in Race 6, a Group One final. He also has Stan’s litter brother Shipwreck in a tough 4^th/5^th Grade in Race 3. Shipwreck was only a couple of strides away from running down Big Opal Rocks in a heat of the $525,000 SKY Racing Group 1 (520m) last week.

And, in Race 5, Snow has Ride The Thunder in the Mick Byrne Memorial Novice Final.

Snow puts his recent success down to a couple of factors – a good brood bitch and his love of greyhounds.

“My success at the moment all comes back to that litter. It is just an extraordinary litter,” he says.

“The success has a lot to do with breeding. I have bred plenty of litters over the years and they either click or they don’t. This one has clicked.

“Also, I was brought up on a dairy farm (at Millaa Millaa, south-west of Cairns) and I just loved animals. When I did get into the greyhounds I found that they are such a gentle breed of dog. You fall in love with them.

“The better you treat them the better they perform. People underestimate how brainy greyhounds are. And that is where you get the results. You work with the dog. You persevere with them and they will give you the full return.”

Long-time friend, and another highly respected greyhound trainer/breeder, Dave Irwin, who is based near Grafton, says although Snow is reaping the rewards of a rich vein of breeding, he has also long been underrated as a trainer.

“He has always had a dog that can gallop,” says Irwin. “And has always been able to bring a dog up to its potential.
“But more than that, Ned is a man I respect highly. He is true to his word … a bloke you want with you in the trenches.

“As far as Oh Oh Range … if this race was in six months time I have no doubt he would be favourite. I hope he goes well in the final, but his best racing is ahead of him.”

And the Ned Kelly connection…

Snow explains: “My father’s aunt, her family had a big wool barn in Euroa (north-east Victoria), right beside a creek, and after the Kellys did a bank job, up to seven or eight of them used to bed down in the barn. And she would feed them all no matter what time it was.

“They’d be looked after and they also looked after her in return – at the time everyone needed money.”

And his nickname (Ned)?

“When I was a toddler my dad, Fred, nicknamed me ‘Ned’. Maybe it was because I was a bit of a handful, a bit mischievous and a bit of a rogue.”