Thrill for first time owners after record breaking debut at Ipswich

By Alex Nolan

A Queensland mother and daughter with no prior experience in greyhound racing say their decision to get involved could be the best thing they have ever done after a pup they own debuted in breathtaking fashion at Ipswich.

Vanessa Heather and her mother Arlene Roy, of Mount Samson, are the proud owners of Professor Snitch and Professor Sirius, from a litter by the sire of the moment, Sennachie.

Professor Snitch had the greyhound world talking after her 12.5 length debut victory over 431 metres on Tuesday, where she lowered the maiden class record set by Hammer Down in 2019 to 24.67 seconds.

Professor Sirius, who broke through for his maiden victory on debut earlier this month, gave Vanessa and Arlene a winning double when he won his novice by 6.25 lengths on the same day.  

Vanessa and Arlene were high with excitement on the drive home from Ipswich on Tuesday evening.

When you hear the story of how they came to get involved in greyhound racing and why they are now so in love with it, it’s easy to understand why.

“We have no prior experience in greyhound racing, but it has been on my bucket list to own and train a greyhound and Mum wanted to get involved too,” Vanessa explained.

“I got down to business with my research and went to the Brisbane Greyhound Racing Club website and saw an advertisement for Sennachie At Stud.

“I thought to myself ‘this dog must be all right’ so I phoned Steve White and asked if he knew of any pups for sale.”

White put Vanessa in touch with Adelaide’s Kirin Corby and purchased two pups from a litter out of Fabwik, a winner of $103,000 from 52 starts.

Corby pointed Vanessa towards the Kerry and Ian Hoggan kennel to take up the training duties, but there was one catch.

“I wanted to have a hands-on approach with the dogs,” Vanessa said.

“We go and visit every week and we’ve both got our handler’s licence.”

Arlene was in the catching pen on Tuesday for Professor Snitch’s debut and was proud to show how that hands-on approach enabled her to call Professor Snitch back to her once she entered the pen.

“When they came into the pen this guy said ‘hold it everybody, just watch this dog’ so I called her and she came straight to me,” Arlene said.

“I wasn’t aware she had broken the record until all the other catchers came out. They looked at the semaphore board and said ‘I think she’s just run a class record’.

“I said I didn’t know, I was just excited she won.”

Despite their limited experience with the breed and the sport, both Vanessa and Arlene believed they had bought into something special quite early.

While Professor Sirius also broke his maiden status on debut before taking his novice on Tuesday, Vanessa, Arlene and the Hoggans all agree he still has more maturing to do.

And, while they admit to being as hands-on as possible with the greyhounds, both Vanessa and Arlene agreed that Kerry and Ian Hoggan had been the perfect trainers to help them start their journey in greyhound racing.

“It’s surreal. Who has two winners with their first two dogs? We are so lucky to have experienced that,” Arlene said.

“It is the best thing I have done in my life in a long time.

“The whole thing has just been incredible, we love these dogs to pieces.

“Regardless of whether they win or not, these dogs are our forever dogs.”

The strength of Professor Snitch’s win on Tuesday had some questioning why she was not entered in the prestigious Vince Curry Memorial Maiden Series, which began last Saturday.

But, Vanessa and Arlene, in conjunction with the Hoggans, decided they were happy to take a slow approach with both greyhounds.

“I don’t reckon they’ve ever had owners like us,” Arlene said.

“But. we leave every decision up to Kerry and Ian, I cannot say enough how happy I am with what they have done.”

Vanessa, a mother of five, said some of her children were now interested in getting involved in the sport.

Meanwhile, fields have been drawn for heats of the Group 1 Gold Bullion over 520 metres and Group 3 Gold Cup over 710 metres to take place at Albion Park on Thursday.  

Five heats will be run in the race to the Bullion, with each winner and two fastest runners-up progressing to next Thursday’s $375,000 Final.

Last week’s joint Golden Ticket winner Jay Is Jay gains direct entry into the Final and is the $4 All In favourite with TAB.

Throttle, who drew the short straw in the Golden ticket dead-heat ballot, has drawn box four in heat four on Thursday night and shares the second line of All In betting with Respecability at $6.  

Respectability has drawn box eight in the fifth and final heat.

Defending Brisbane Cup champion, Orchestrate, has drawn box two for the opening heat, with last year’s National Sprint runner-up Simply Limelight drawn to order in box one.

The Travis Elson-trained speedster Hello Mike has drawn box one in the second heat, with Shipwreck drawn to his outside in box two.

Hara’s Skye (box one) and the in-form Springtime Jet (box four) headline the third heat.

The five heats will be held across races four to eight on Thursday night, with two heats of the Group 3 Gold Cup over 710 metres taking place as races one and two.