After a decade holding an owner-trainer's permit Todd Barnes recently secured his public trainer's licence and has struck gold instantly, winning three heats of the group 3 Magic Maiden at Wentworth Park on Thursday night.
He won heat two with Bank Keeping in a slow 30.58, heat four in 29.90 with Pay Keeping and the fifth heat with Pound Keeping in fastest qualifying time of 29.75.
Each of Barnes' winners are raced by Dubbo breeder Charmaine Roberts, whose bitch Sooty Keeping shared 2025 NSW Greyhound of the Year honours with Power And Glory.
Barnes' trio of winners are just 18 months old and are by Aston Rupee from Tania Keeping, a daughter of Feral Franky, who was trained by the late John Finn.
Other members of the Tania Keeping litter which raced in Thursday's Magic Maiden heats are Cash Keeping (fourth in heat one), Dollar Keeping (dead-heated for second in heat two), Euro Keeping (fourth) and Currency Keeping (fifth) in heat three, and Money Keeping (fifth in heat four).
Todd Barnes is the son of Richmond club president and leading Sydney trainer Minnie Finn and the husband of Courtney Barnes, another highly successful trainer.
At 36 Todd Barnes has long been a successful businessman as proprietor of a plumbing business which has a dozen employees.
Minnie Finn said: "While Todd's wife Courtney has been training a lot of winners, he has always been enthusiastic about the greyhounds and as a little kid he would stay home and look after the dogs which were at home while I was away racing.
"Tania Keeping, the mother of his winners on Thursday night, was a very fast bitch who had 13 wins and a dozen placings from 38 starts, over various distances.
"I want to ease off on the training side of the sport and get more involved in breeding so will be leaving more of the training to Courtney and Todd.
"Pound Keeping had box five when he won his heat and has drawn eight in the final.
"It's hard to say how he will handle the extreme outside draw, because with inexperienced maiden puppies like these one can never be sure of what is going to happen.
"Going into Thursday's heats we all thought Todd's best chance was Money Keeping, because she had been flying in trials.
"But after trailing her kennelmate and sister Pay Keeping until the half-way mark she dropped out, so I have to say she was disappointing.''
Minnie and her husband, the late John Finn won the Magic Maiden way back in 2003 with Winsome Revenge.
