When owner John Maroun transferred Jungle Johnny from his yard to the kennels of professional trainer Mark Gatt, he did so hoping his new trainer could "turn Johnny into a race dog.''
And while Maroun has had to split Jungle Johnny's current $340,000 earnings, he has no regrets as the dog prepares to tackle next Friday night's Group Two Bulli Gold Cup final.
"None at all because Jungle Johnny was too comfortable with me, and since Mark has been training him, he has had 37 starts for 22 wins,'' Maroun said.
"I think Jungle Johnny is beginning a bit better these days too and gee, doesn't he have a brain.
"When he won his Bulli Cup heat he was on the outside, in third spot, coming to the home turn, and suddenly switched back to the rails where he found a perfect run."
"I don't know if he thought he was going to check off the heels of the two leaders, but he certainly pulled the right rein.
"In the final he has box eight and I'm hoping Eriza Sparkles, who has box seven, might bring him into the race early."
"She has terrific early pace so he is probably drawn okay being outside her.''
In Friday's heats Eriza Sparkles led throughout in 25.76, equalling the great Power And Glory's track record, while her kennelmate, the Steve Fitch-trained Cumbria Jack, set a new time standard of 25.74 for the 472m, with Jungle Johnny stopping the clock at 25.86.
Bernardo is the stud dog name on most breeders' lips these days but Feral Franky, who was relatively unheralded as a sire when retired six years ago, is enjoying his best year.
Last Thursday, the progeny of Feral Franky won a remarkable 29 races around Australia, eight in NSW, seven in Victoria, five in SA, four each in WA and Queensland and another in Tasmania.
As of February 7 Feral Franky, whose cost is $3,300, was third on the national sires list, trailing only Fernando Bale and Bernardo, whose stud fee is $10,000.
Since January 1, 840 of Feral Franky's offspring have won 452 races.
Feral Franky stands at stud on his former trainer Jack Smith's property at Forbes, and the studmaster attributed the dog's success to early support from the late Paul Wheeler and his family.
"He retired with no fanfare but the Wheelers put some of their bitches to him and when he got winners from them his stud career really took off,'' Smith said.
"Feral Franky got his quirky name from part-owner Lyndall McIntyre, who owned a pet dog named Franky which had only three legs.
"One day Lyndall's pet was carrying on stupid and she declared he was being 'feral.'
"So when it came time for Lyndall and fellow owner John Budwee to name their greyhound by Collision from Solar Pak they decided on Feral Franky.
"It was an odd name but it really caught on with the punters and the dog became something of a cult figure.''
