Soda Maxi in line for Masters swansong

By Isaac Murphy

Ron Hamilton stumbled into greyhounds with son Matt by his side decades ago.

The pair found their feet quickly together and are going strong to this day.

Matt gave an insight into their unusual introduction to the sport.

“My old man, Ron Hamilton, has been in the dogs about 30 years now and my uncle Ned Snow was messing around with dogs up in Townsville at the time, so I was never a hope of doing anything else,” Matt laughed.

“We lived down south of Sydney and I remember one afternoon we went to the Mossvale dogs to have a punt on the horses, fortunately for us things went pretty well and found ourselves up a fair bit.

“We heard over the speakers that after the last race they’d be auctioning off a couple of dogs and not knowing anything about greyhounds we ended up coming home with two dogs and it’s been a constant from there.”

While Matt’s still got plenty of years in the training ranks, Ron is beginning to downsize.

He has found the perfect match in Soda Maxi, the 142-start veteran coming into this week’s master’s heats off a Thursday night win.

“We’ve owned him all his life, he started off racing in Melbourne until we brought him up here at around three years old to have a go at some master’s races,” Hamilton said.

“He never had a lot of success, but he’s always been a keen chaser and even going on five years old now continues to show us he wants to keep going.

“My Dad Ron Hamilton is nearly 80 and he’s the perfect dog for him, he’s more like a pet getting in the car and doing everything by himself, they’re a good duo.”

Soda Maxi made up several lengths late last week to grab his maiden 500 metre win paying $51.

It came as no surprise to the Hamilton’s though who’d been biding their time.

“We would have had him in the master’s on a Thursday night a little bit earlier, but just with the Queensland grading system we wanted to time our run for this race and make sure he was eligible,” Hamilton said.

“He looks right on schedule so far, he was solid first up at Ipswich, was runner-up over the shorts second up at Albion and won his first 520 metre Albion Park last week.

“There’s been signs of improvement each run and I can’t see why he won’t be even more competitive in this week’s heats.”

Everything’s in place for a repeat performance this week, but he will have to overcome a tricky draw and tough competition.

“We would have probably preferred to draw inside, but from out in the six as long as he finds his way to the rail before he gets out of the straight, he’s a big chance, he’s mad keen for the fence,” Hamilton said.

“At this point in his career his skill set is ideally suited to the 500 metres, he’s still got that spring in his step that can see him lead races over the shorts and after 142 starts he’s developed a run home as well.

“He can probably go with the Made In America and Spring Chatter’s early, but looking at the way they race I think they’re vulnerable in the last 50 metres where we’re really strong.”

Soda Maxi turns five in September but has the green light to race on as long as he wants to.

Ron Hamilton is good at picking his spots.

“We wouldn’t have believed it had someone told us he’d still be racing, sure he’s no champion, but the bond him and Dad (Ron Hamilton) have is pretty special,” Hamilton said.

“We’ve got no end date on his career, he’ll be the one who tells us when he’s done, but I think one of the keys to his longevity has been not racing him over the five hundred week in week out we just pick our spots.

“It’s pretty unique to have a dog almost five years old who’s a live chance in a series like this and could also go and win a 331 metre race on a Sunday night.”

Hamilton said the kennel had taken a few tips from good friend Rob Ayres on how to prepare for the race after he won last year’s edition, while also outlining the many benefits of the master’s series.

“One of my best mates Rob Ayres won the race last year with Boscono who’s kicked on and is still doing her best racing a year down the track, we’d love to take the title for a year,” he said.

“The most important aspect of this race is getting older trainers who might not usually have a Thursday night runner to the track on big nights like last week, I know Dad (Ron Hamilton) savoured it.”

“It’s a great opportunity for different generations to get to sit down and talk dogs, my uncle Ned (Snow) is constantly giving advice to young trainers and he’s more than happy to because in the end it’s about the industry and keeping it in good hands.”