VICTORIAN owned greyhound St Pierre ensured his trainer Debbie Cannan celebrated the biggest win of her career when he led all the way to take out the Group 3 $37,500 Devonport Cup over 452 metres yesterday.
St Pierre gave a star-studded field a galloping lesson as he powered his way to a 2-1/4 length win over interstate invader Banger Harvey (NSW) with race favourite I’m A Fencer a distant third with the winner stopping the clock at 25.55 seconds.
It was an emotional Cannan who shed tears of joy as she raced to the catching pen to retrieve her kennel star.
“This dog has been an absolute dream to train because he is so honest and he deserved to win a really good race,” Cannan said.
“It is clearly my biggest win as a trainer and I just want to thank the owner Chris Nutt for giving me the opportunity to train such a wonderful dog,” she said.
It was St Pierre’s fifth win in succession and Cannan confirmed the son of Surf Lorian-Paris St Germain would now be aimed at the Launceston Cup to be run over 515 metres at Mowbray next month.
Cannan became only the third female trainer to win the Devonport Cup with Longford-based Margaret Crosswell successful in 1996 with Ginger Charm and Collica triumphant for Eileen Thomas in 2000.
The trainer also thanks fellow trainer Ted Medhurst who has just returned to training after a stint on the sidelines.
“I really want to thank Ted Medhurst for teaching me everything I know about greyhounds,” Cannan said.
The popular trainer has only a small team of four of racing dogs in her kennels at Mangalore, which is a far cry from the 20 she had to prepare 12 months ago.
“I guess you would call me more a boutique trainer these days,” she said.