Six Hunter Valley greyhound racing icons will be celebrated at Ladbrokes Gardens on Saturday, July 26, when they will be guests of honour at the Newcastle track and have races named in their honour.
Titled "Legends Night" the meeting will pay tribute to veteran trainers Warren Slade and Ron Asquith, famous greyhound chiropractor and ex-trainer John Munro, former grader and highly respected race classifier Eric Blyth, and the region's best known veterinary surgeons John Newell and Peter Yore.
Warren Slade, who trained the great stayer Gallant Seagull, race record smashing winner of the 1998 Summer and Sydney Cup finals at Wentworth Park, began his association with greyhound racing as a primary school student.
He spent a school holiday with his uncle Stan Maher, a trial track proprietor who trained Cola Minda, winner of the 1953 Harold Park (now Vic Peters) Classic.
"Uncle Stan's kennels were at Ash Island, just across the Hexham bridge, and I enjoyed that holiday so much I got permission from my parents to stay with him permanently, attending the little local primary school,'' Slade recalled.
"I loved walking uncle Stan's greyhounds before and after school, and when I was old enough I took out a trainer's licence.''
Ron Asquith's greyhound Scramjet, who has won 20 races and nearly $100,000, won the listed The Collerson at Wentworth Park in 2023 and he has long been a mentor to successful Hunter Valley trainer Mark Davidson.
Scramjet trained by Ron Asquith
John Munro was a highly successful trainer of greyhounds like Chadford, the Cessnock and Albury record holder whose win at Harold Park in pouring rain landed enough big bets for him to buy his current property at Mulbring, near Cessnock.
While Munro also trained straight track champion Fine Rev, the Richmond record holder and winner of 18 from 24 starts, he is most renowned for his skill at manipulating and correcting muscular injuries in both greyhounds and sportsmen.
In the late 1990s Munro's army of friends organised a "This Is Your Life" tribute to their hero, who had sustained the careers of dozens of famous Hunter Valley sporting identities without ever accepting payment.
Attending that night at Kurri Kurri Workers Club were the entire Newcastle Knights rugby league team, including Andrew Johns and Paul Harragon, champion jockey Robert Thompson, who rode 4,447 winners, and David Foster, world champion axeman for 21 years in succession.
Eric Blyth, now 92, assembled the fields and sifted through nominations at tracks like Maitland and Newcastle for many decades, acquiring a flawless reputation for being fair and incorruptible.
Bumpo trained by Warren Slade
It is impossible to imagine anyone embracing greyhound racing so wholeheartedly as Anthony Orley, owner of Reborn Gypsy, a finalist in Saturday night's Group One Ladbrokes Peter Mosman Opal at Wentworth Park.
Reborn Gypsy, trained by Jason Magri, qualified for Saturday's Wentworth Park age classic by finishing third to Coast Rig and Zipping Chetty in last Saturday's second heat.
Orley, who works in real estate, said after Reborn Gypsy's race: "I bought my first greyhound, Canya Dazzle, just two years ago.
"But now I own 70 of them!
"Several are brood bitches, so I am heavily involved in the breeding side of the sport.
"I rear my puppies on the family property at Glenorie.''
Glenorie is only 44km north-west of the Sydney CBD, and a mere 46km from Wentworth Park.
Reborn Gypsy
Courtney Barnes, who juggles raising three children, aged eight, 12 and 14, with training a large team of greyhounds, has capped her biggest year in the sport by having two runners in Saturday night's Group One Ladbrokes Peter Mosman Opal final at Wentworth Park.
Just nine nights after landing a winning treble there with Zipping Kirk, Zipping Chetty and Shaq Keeping, Barnes qualified for the $75,000 to the winner Opal final with Zipping Chetty (box three) and Zipping Ariel (box eight).
"I'm fortunate because my husband Todd has his own plumbing business, so between the two of us we are able to find the time to manage that and to look after the kids and train the dogs,'' Barnes said.
"It works well although I must admit Todd and I don't see much of each other these days.''
