DON BOMFORD has been associated with greyhound racing for about 60 years with his interest in the game sparked in his teens.
His devotion and commitment to the code has earned him the ultimate accolade by being inducted into the Tasmanian Greyhound Racing Hall of Fame.
Bomford began working at greyhound meetings in the late 1950s as a standby greyhound handler before being placed on the permanent roster in 1963.
In those days the clubs employed professional handlers or “Red Coats” as they were called because of the red jackets they were required to wear.
Their job was to handle a greyhound in each race from leaving the kennels, to boxing and catching and then returning it to the trainer. It wasn’t until 1975 that trainers could handle their own dogs.
During his time as a red coat Bomford handled many winners with his best being six in one night.
He also holds the record of leading in six Hobart Thousand winners – Ophir Gold (1963), Sandy Stone (1964), Ipswich Low (1966), Sue Narilla (1968), Plunder Road (1970) and Jamin John (1974).
When the handlers’ role ended in 1975 Bomford became parade leader at the T.C.A. under the watchful eye of kennel supervisor Jack Backhouse.
In the late 1970s Bomford became assistant starter to Dave Stalker and this role also included parading the dogs once they were led onto the track and then organising the start of each race.
When Stalker replaced Backhouse as kennel supervisor, Bomford moved on to become the official starter, a position he held until the mid 1980s.
His next move was to take over from Stalker as kennel supervisor, a position he still at age 81 and given his spritely demeanour he could be doing that job for another decade.
This writer must thank Greg Fahey for all of his research into the Hall of Fame inductees and subsequent stories that appear on the official Tasmanian Greyhound Hall Of Fame website.