She replays races in her head, second-guesses decisions and wonders whether she’s pushing too hard or not enough.
So when her greyhound Eidetic Memory led from start to finish to claim the Laszlo Schaumann Memorial Final at Nowra last week in 29.54, it wasn’t just a win, it was a mental release.
“She was one of the fastest dogs I’ve ever put through pre‑training, so I knew she had good runs in her,” Coleman said after the victory.
“I still remember her first run off the property was at Dapto over the 297m and she went 17.50. In her second look, she ran 17.20 and that’s when I started thinking maybe she could be handy because hardly any of ours break 18 seconds on their first go.”
But in racing, “maybe” can turn into doubt just as quickly as excitement.
“I got in my own head a bit. When they go that fast early, they can trick you into thinking they’re only a short course dog so I started wondering whether she could run 500,” she admits.
“Like most people, I want group‑class dogs but you try not to talk yourself into things too early. A lot of mine are bread‑and‑butter types so I was just hopeful more than confident.”
Kayla-Jane Coleman with Eidetic Memory after winning the Laszlo Schaumann Memorial Final
Eidetic Memory’s debut run came way back in October of 2024 when Coleman threw her into the deep water of the Million Dollar Chase maiden series.
A form reference that certainly looks good on paper now despite her whopping margin of defeat.
“She ran into Jungle Johnny [current Wentworth Park track record holder] and Dalwhinnie in her first start,” Coleman laughed.
“Then in her third start, she raced Dalwhinnie again when he broke the Wentworth Park track record, so she ran into some proper dogs early and it was tough to work out where she stood.”
Now at the age of three, Coleman believes Eidetic Memory is “cherry ripe” to start realising her potential.
The same could be said for Coleman who is striking at her most successful win rate since the four-year window of 2015-18.
“It’s been a funny period over the last six or seven years,” she said.
“I think COVID and the threat of the ban took a bit of a mental toll. We had a baby as well [Kash] and then like every trainer, some litters just don’t work out the way you’d hope.”
“If you go back 10 years, I had Cardiology and Where Art Thou running in some big races. Then Tachycardic made an Easter Egg final and ran third in the Dapto Megastar final in 2021.”
“But the periods in between are hard. You question everything. You don’t know what the future looks like, and the excitement of it all sort of drops off a bit.”
But winning the Laszlo Schaumann Memorial regenerated that spark in Coleman.
So much so, she is already steering Eidetic Memory towards a Group 3 race at Wentworth Park.
“I have thrown her in the deep end for the Bracelet heats this Saturday night,” she said.
And the best part, Coleman didn’t overthink it...too much.
