The Gardens will host four heats of the Robert Smith Memorial Maiden (515m) this Friday afternoon, with the second edition of the annual race holding extra significance for the connections of two runners in particular.
The race, named in honour of Group 1 winning trainer Smith who sadly passed away in 2021 after a short battle with cancer, was the brainchild of Greyhound Racing NSW board member Kevin Gordon.
Smith trained solely and wholly for Gordon before his passing, and for the first time in 2023, the Gordon family will have runners take part in the race named in their great mate’s honour.
Lochinvar Milan will jump in Heat 1, while Lochinvar Khan - who is the son of the Smith-trained Lochinvar Sheike - will go around in the fourth heat.
“It’s great to have two runners in the race. We didn’t have any last year but I’ll always try and target this race and have something ready for it because it means so much to me. Hopefully one year we’ll have something good enough to win it,” Gordon said.
“Robert and I were not just owner and trainer, we were best friends. It was a very sad day when he was diagnosed with cancer and the final of this year’s race will be held on February 11, that will be within 24 hours of his passing two years ago,” Gordon said.
Gordon’s company, Multicam, will also sponsor the race for a second straight year.
“Multicam sponsors the race because Robert was passionate about 500m maiden series. He always said these were the stars of our future and he just loved watching young dogs go around over the 500m,” he added.
“It was the logical choice for me to put a race on in his honour that meant so much to him. Dennis Barnes is bringing two out from Orange, Jack Smith has one in, and Johnny Finn has a few in that probably go alright as well, so the bigger trainers are coming for it and why wouldn’t you with $20,000 up for grabs,” Gordon said.
Both Lochinvar Milan and Lochinvar Khan are owned by Gordon’s daughter Claire Dolling, with the pair trained by Hunter local Michelle Lill.
The latter hopeful both dogs can advance to next week’s final.
“Milan might struggle from the draw because he doesn’t have a lot of early pace. He’ll need to find a position early and that’ll be made harder because he’ll be back in the pack, but he’s very strong and I expect him to get into the race late. He actually looks like a longer distance dog in the future,” Lill added.
“As for Khan, he is very quick early and I would have preferred him drawn inside as he’ll have to cross them from Box 6, but if he can do that, he’ll be in it for a long way. The last 50m might be the question mark with him at the moment but on his trial sections, he should be near the lead,” Lill said.
The emotional gravitas of the race not lost on Lill either.
“Kevin was very close to Robert and then when he got sick it was pretty tough on him. Robert used to train just for Kevin but when he passed away, Kevin didn’t really have a trainer up this way so we got involved,” Lill said,
“I know he [Kevin] was always hopeful of having a runner in the series because of how much Robert means to him and that connection means a lot to us as well so hopefully we can do alright and it’d be very emotional just to make it through to the final, let alone win it,” Lill said.
Dolling, a former racing manager at The Gardens, remembers Smith as “a wonderful family man and a great friend of the family”.
“Rob was a very quiet guy, he kept to himself a lot but once you got to know him he was such a great fella. The thought of just doing well in the race makes me want to cry right now to be honest. We have a little bit to do with Debbie (Robert’s wife) and if we were to do well with these two boys, I think it’d be a very emotional night on track next week,” Dolling said.
Dolling is no stranger to winning important races either.
She owned 2010 Group 1 Paws Of Thunder winner Lochinvar Marlow, while another of her runners, Lochinvar Vogue, took out the Group 2 Sydney Gold Cup in the same year.
“We were born into the industry in a way. Dad got in on the action and the natural progression saw us get involved. I married someone I met at the greyhounds and then Lochinvar Marlow and Lochinvar Vogue cemented the love of the sport for me, they were just great to watch and support,” Dolling said.
And although it is too early to tell if Lochinvar Milan and Lochinvar Khan can scale the same heights as their predecessors, Dolling admits just being in a race named after ‘Rob’ is enough.
“I’m just stoked to be in it. Obviously I was close with Robert as well back in the day so I’m really happy my first two runners for a while will be in the race named after him. I work with Dad now so if he gives me an early mark on Friday, I’ll be happy to take it to get over to The Gardens and cheer them both on,” Dolling said.
The winner of the February 10 Robert Smith Memorial Maiden final will take home $20,000 in prizemoney.
Last year’s inaugural running of the event was taken out by the Peter Lagogiane-trained French Martini.
French Martini has since won the Group 2 Black Top and Group 3 Ladies Bracelet at Wentworth Park. She also made the final of the 2022 September edition of the Million Dollar Chase and recently ran sixth in the 2023 Group 1 Paws Of Thunder.
