Adrian Child, a 49-year-old firefighter, is one of the relatively few remaining "backyard" suburban trainers yet he has been enjoying a great run with Fat Freddy, who notched his third Wentworth Park win last Thursday night.
While most trainers these days prepare their greyhounds on large properties on the outskirts of Sydney, Child trains Fat Freddy from a house block at his home in Pennant Hills, just 27km from Wentworth Park.
Bought by Child as a puppy for just $5000, Fat Freddy returned after a long break resulting from an operation to remove a testicle caught up in his stomach, to win his maiden race at Wentworth Park on April 16.
The dog showed that was no fluke by winning again at headquarters on July 4 before notching his half head success on Thursday.
Fat Freddy is no breeding fluke, as his litter brother My Boy Bingo is among the top sprinters in Victoria, who has won 17 races and earned over $191,000.
Child keeps Fat Freddy fit with regular swimming in the family pool and long walks around Galston's Fagan Park, 14km from his Pennant Hills home.
"I made a kennel for Fat Freddy in a converted garage at my place and he is there along with my only other greyhound, Mr. Mister, who has not raced since May last year,'' Child said.
"Mr Mister was trained for me by Ric Anderson, who has been my mentor in the sport, but the dog suffered a dropped back leg muscle over 12 months ago.
"I am working on it non-stop and I hope to get him back to the races shortly.
"I became interested in greyhounds through Ray Morcomb, my martial arts instructor.
"Ray owned a handy bitch called Bazmo's Babe, who won nine races and $25,000 in 2011 and 2012 when trained by the late Pauline Moran.
"Ray's father, also named Ray, owns several Harley Davidsons and his nickname was always Fat Freddy, so that's how my dog got his name.
"I plan to nominate Fat Freddy for Wentworth Park again this Thursday, but with the track to close I have already purchased a huge photo of him winning as a wonderful keepsake.''
