GREYHOUNDS that contract the disease Parvo (parvovirus) are usually issued a death sentence but not so for a litter bred by Ted and Anne Howard from Exeter.
Over half the litter (Big Daddy Cool-Bird On Fire) survived and yesterday one of those survivors Winklee Wonder scored a brilliant win in the Devonport Greyhound Racing Club’s Breeder’s Classic final over 452 metres.
Winklee Wonder was sent out the short-price favourite and never gave his backers any cause for alarm.
He began well from box one and was pressured by Posh Gem (8) to the home turn.
But when Howard’s dog straightened for the run home he found another gear and went on to defeat Posh Gem by over two lengths with Thirteen Black coming from well back to grab third but over six lengths astern.
Trainer Ted Howard was thrilled with the win.
“This dog is lucky to be alive let alone winning races,” Howard said.
“When they get Parvo it’s usually a death sentence but we spent a lot of money to try and save as many of the litter as we could, so winning this race justifies the expense,” he said.
Winklee Wonder won his Breeder’s Classic semi-final in a personal best time of 25.84 but he bettered that by 0.2 sec in the final.
“This dog has always been able to run time and I doubt there’s a dog in the state that can run a stronger or quicker last split over the sprint distances.”
In the final he notched a first split of 8.03 sec and second split of 12.84 and ran home in 12.80 sec.
“While we were quietly confident he’d win, there’s always the chance that things won’t go right, especially in a major race final but everything seemed to fall into place soon after the start.”
“The best thing was that Posh Gem moved alongside of him and that just made him chase more keenly.”
“When he dropped Posh Gem on the turn I knew he was home.”
“The prize money he’s earned today has put us square with what it cost us to save the pups from Parvo, so whatever he earns from here on in is profit,” he said.
Howard confirmed Winklee Wonder will tackle the Gold Collar series in Launceston in a fortnight after which he will give the dog a month break.
“We were going to give him a break after the race but with the Gold Collar only a fortnight away and with him racing so well we thought we might as well keep him up for that race,” Howard said.