This isn’t just about a greyhound, its owners or trainer. It’s about a town, the town of Forbes, and its people being brought together to talk about, cheer, and be unified, for Hector.
Magpie Hector, a greyhound named after the local footy club the Forbes Magpies, and one of its legends, Geoff Acheson, will on Saturday night look to add to an already bulging resume and send Dawson Park into raptures, by winning the $125,000 Ladbrokes Country Classic Final at Dubbo.
Magpie Hector, trained by Forbes master Jack Smith, won two Group 1 events in Melbourne last month collecting $175,000 in the process for his group of eight owners. But more than that, it generated so much interested around the town of Forbes.
“It's good for us to win, but it's created a real vibe around the town, it’s like everyone's talking about Magpie Hector,” said part-owner Andrew Walker. “We're lucky, we're the owners but it’s a good story for a local country town."
Photo: The Meadows Greyhounds
“You go down to the supermarket and there's people you don't even know, who wouldn’t know dog racing, pulling you up asking how Hector is going, and wanting to talk about him. It's just been a real buzz around town with Hector.”
Hector isn’t the first Magpie to hit the racetrack. Andrew explained that as a proud Forbite – maybe that’s not the correct term – who loves his town, he and his fellow owners wanted to name all their greyhounds something that signified Forbes.
“We’re just all Forbes’ blokes, we watch every one of the Magpies’ home games and we’re all just staunch supporters,” Andrew said. “We had a couple of dogs before, one named Chinese Tonight, and another called Bad Move, and then we were buying some more and decided we wanted them all to have the same prefix and something to do with Forbes.
“Anyway, we thought maybe Lachlan, as that’s the River that runs through here, but then we decided we love the Magpies, let’s go with that and name each after a club legend - a good club person, and that's been the case right through all the dogs you've had. We had one named Magpie Harry after my dad who played with the club for many years too.”
Geoff Acheson has always been known as Hector. A long-time player and coach with the Magpies, and loved throughout the club. Geoff sadly has Alzheimer’s disease but he and his family love attending the races and cheering for his namesake. They were there last week when he won his Country Classic heat and will be there this week for the final.
“Hector has been a staunch Magpie player, supporter and committee man for a long time,” Andrew said. “He's a legend of the club.
“The success that Magpie Hector has had has also given Hector himself a kick along and that’s fantastic to see.”
Added Jack Smith: “Hector is a legend. He comes to Dubbo a bit and it’s something he gets enjoyment out of at the moment, so that’s nice.
“He just loves the dog and it’s great to have him and his family and friends come along and support him and cheer his namesake.”
Andrew said he and his fellow owners have been “blessed to have Jack and Maree (Smith) in town” to train for them. Jack actually was the one who steered Andrew towards Hector as a three-month old pup.
“There’s about eight of us and we try and buy a couple of dogs each year,” Andrew explained. “We all put in a bit of money at the start and bought a dog, and then we bought a few more, and sold a few and retired a couple, and we haven't paid out a dividend to date. We just keep going shopping for more.
“We all just do it for the enjoyment. It’s our hobby. Some people have ski boats, we have greyhounds.
“Jack sent me a message one night and said, Ross Davidson has got a couple of dogs, so I drove down (to Wallerwang) and had a look, and Hector was just three months’ old and he just happened to walk up to me first, so I said, I'll take that one.”
Photo: Jason McKeown
From 30 starts Magpie Hector has won 14 times, and accumulated more than $250,000 in prizemoney, a tally that connections are hoping to add $100,000 at Dubbo on Saturday in the Country Classic.
“We never thought we'd ever get a group one and to get two in three weeks we’re still pinching ourselves,” Andrew said.
“We only ever just wanted to win a race at Dubbo on a Saturday night or at Wenty (Wentworth Park). That was our dream but to actually get group one wins, twice, is just unbelievable.
“I went down on my own for the Zoom Top, then the second trip for the Fanta Bale there were four of us down there and made it special to celebrate it with a couple of the other owners. It was just an unbelievable feeling. We used to get excited about winning on a Wednesday afternoon at Temora.
“It’s not about the prizemoney for us, it’s the thrill of it. We're bloody extremely lucky that we've, got a dog like Hector, and it’s so good that everyone in town is on board for the ride.”
Photo: The Meadows Greyhounds
Jack – who won the Country Classic with Bella Una two years ago - admits that it will be a tough challenge for Magpie Hector over the 605m trip, shorter than his more favourable journey of 720m.
He will need to be at his very best and close to the likely leader, Victorian Without A Trace to have a winning chance.
“He’s a very smart animal that’s for sure and the owners are having a ball,” Jack said. “I said to the boys we have had a big couple of months in Brisbane and Melbourne let's do the Dubbo thing, and if he can get on the podium that will be great, and we will have freshened him up for a crack at his main target the (Group 1) Association Cup (at Wentworth Park on April 11).”
