Caption: Revive, affectionately known as Patch around the Davis home, tucks into an ice-cream treat with his housemate after his well-deserved win at Taree in early October.

By DIMITY MAHER – The Greyhound Girl

NSW participant Loren Davis has been fortunate to win a few Group races in her time, including the Group One Perth Cup with Rippin’ Sam.

However, nothing can beat the win of her pride and joy Revive at Taree during October.

Grab the tissue box, because the story of Revive, a white and blue son of Aussie Infrared and Alexia Rae, and his remarkable journey to the racetrack is a tear-jerker.

Loren and her husband Brad bred the litter at their Hunter Valley home, with countless nights of shift-swapping on the lounge room floor to make sure the pups were healthy and safe.

Fast-forward 12 months and the litter were off to the breakers, with a shattering phone call received a week into their education to say Revive – or Patch as he is known around the Davis home – had injured himself and was sent home.

After two months off, the Davises began working with Patch and re-commenced the education process, as he’d never progressed through what most know as the full course.

While he didn’t put any flash times on the board, he was a ferocious chaser and one of the best Davis had seen in her time.

His pre-training commenced after a short spell and their world was turned upside down, when Patch managed to escape and was struck by a car, travelling at approximately 60km/hr.

 Brad witnessed it all unfold and quickly rushed to his side, scooping him up and making the journey to Singleton Veterinary Hospital.

He suffered a fractured eye socket, cracked shoulder and sported plenty of bumps and bruises but was saved and cared for by the incredible staff at the facility.

The Davises knew his chances of making the track were slim to none, they were just grateful he was still alive.

Patch didn’t take long to adjust to his new life inside the house – in fact, he took over the place.

 Solo, a family pet whippet who lives inside, was by his side every night and the two formed an unbreakable bond.

Patch had approximately six to seven months off and they nursed him along slowly, galloping and working at his own pace.

 He would constantly scream and bark if he saw the other greyhounds going out and he wasn’t. He was approaching two-and-a-half years of age at this stage and Loren noticed on one particular afternoon, he was appearing unsteady on his feet and immediately knew something was wrong.

It turns out he ingested some snail baits that were sitting in a box that had been moved by their contractor. Her heart sank as she feared the worst, given Patch’s run of bad luck to date. But as he’d done once before, Patch made a full recovery and after a further two months, his first race start finally arrived in late August.

He drew the inside alley at Goulburn over the 350m, which Loren was pleased about, given he loves to rail. She couldn’t, however, bring herself to attend the meeting, so her daughter Elly was given the responsibility of handling their precious Patch.

Loren cried before they’d even left the property and couldn’t bring herself to watch the race, feeling sick with nerves. She listened to the race from afar, hearing her mum screaming from the other room post-race and, understandably, they were elated he finished third.

The team then ventured to the newly-renovated Taree circuit, with Revive producing a gutsy performance from box two over the 300m, saluting by two-and-a-quarter lengths.

The tears flowed from Loren as she ran into the catching pen to unite with him post-race, while handler Brad claimed he had sore eyes that day. However, Loren knew the real reason he was welling up and it was certainly not from any soreness or allergies.

At the time of writing, Patch has raced a further two times at Taree for two solid second placings, taking his career stats to four stats for a win and three minors.

He’s defined the odds on more than one occasion and proved you can certainly think outside the box and don’t have to follow the traditional philosophies of greyhound training, with Patch thriving as a couch chaser.