When mates Preston Rowles and Paul Bunyan went looking for a new greyhound acquisition, they targeted a highly respected and proven line they thought would give them the best chance of success.
Enter Central West master mentors Pam and Paul Braddon and their unbeaten bitch, Tiki Magic.
“The Braddons bred her and she won her first three races out at Dubbo. We tried to buy the sister first, Give It All, but they didn’t want to sell her….so we ended up with Tiki Magic,” Rowles said.
“And they sure can prepare a dog. They have a great breed and whatever they’re doing, they’re doing it right because she’s doing everything you want a dog to do.”
“I’m not going to make predictions because she’s only had four starts but she’s a nice race dog.”
That was evident on Thursday night at Wentworth Park when Tiki Magic, having her first start for Rowles and owner Paul Bunyan, bounded straight to the front in a fifth-grade field and ran them into the ground.
The final time of 30.22 not record breaking by any means but the emphatic nature of the victory (7.75 lengths) certainly reason for optimism.
“She blew the start a little bit and got in a bit of trouble heading into the first bend but she’s only young and still learning,” Rowles offered.
“That was just her second 500 after going 5.46 and 30.07 last Saturday night in a trial. We’ve only had her for six weeks as well so I think she can break 30 at Wenty Park.”
The 48-year-old enjoying his time back in the greyhound game after years off the scene.
He’s currently got seven greyhounds in work and has won seven of his 25 starts since returning to the caper in May last year.
Rowles soon planning to ramp up his operation with a new training property at Hill Top in the NSW Southern Highlands.
Preston Rowles leads Tiki Magic to the boxes
“I’ve been setting it up over the last couple of years and there’s still plenty of work to be done but I’m getting ready to semi retire in the next couple of months and focus on the dogs. The dream is to fully retire,” Rowles said.
“I’m about to start construction on a purpose-built kennel block which council has just approved and I’m sinking a fortune into it.”
“I just love doing the dogs. I don’t gamble, I just look forward to getting a dog up for a race. I like competing, I like preparing a dog, I like the challenge and it’s not about the money. It takes three months to get dog up to 500 and it’s a 24/7 job, that’s what I really love.”
Rowles and Bunyan hopeful kennelmate Minh Alfie can continue the good form in Race 10 on Saturday night at Wentworth Park.
“He likes Box 10 so the eight is great. He ran a good race last week from Box 1 at Wenty [second in 30.10 to Cheeky Evie]…but he definitely wants to be out wide. He’s been working well up the straight and I think he’s a good chance,” Rowles added.
*Tiki Magic is a black bitch by Feral Franky out of Hope’s A Chance.
Hope’s A Chance produced 2022 Goulburn Fireball winner Apollo Speed (24 wins), Dubbo 318m track record holder Clare A Chance (33 wins) and former Bathurst 307m track record holder Digger’s Magic (21) wins.
