Bargain buy gives Griffin hope in North Queensland Sprint

By Isaac Murphy

When Kerry Griffin retired seven years ago, he had to opportunity to return to his favourite past time in training and racing greyhounds, something he’d first done four decades earlier.

The hobby trainer has always ensured he only ever has one dog at a time, which he trains out of his Townsville backyard and his current project, As Magic Is, will get her chance at the North Queensland Sprint on Friday night.

“She’s a lovely bitch to train and as relaxed as anything; she’s the only dog I have, she’s lying out on the patio floor in the cool right now,” Griffin laughed.

“She’s a race bitch but she’s more like a pet at home, we call her Holly.

“I don’t lock her up, she just walks around on her own accord, plays in the garden and is just the epitome of a happy content greyhound.

“She completely switches off before her races, you put her in the cage on the way to the track and she just sleeps the whole way.

“You have to be careful with her at the track though, once she catches a whiff of the lure all hell breaks loose, she loves racing.”

With two meetings a week at Townsville and the competition as strong as ever up north, As Magic Is had endured a lean patch before last week’s heat win.

“It’d been 15 starts since her last win before the heats, but all those runs had come in top grade up here, she hasn’t had it easy and that probably helped her against a good field,” Griffin said.

“It’s a fair drought but I was never really concerned she was heading the wrong way, she’s still been competitive and the short course racing is pretty cut-throat up here - one mistake and you miss out, but she’s come right when it counted.

“The 21.77 she ran is the quickest she’s gone in her 58 starts and quickest of the three heats, I could see she was going well and just needed to get a bit of luck.

“She jumped on the bunny and away she went, if she can run that time again this week we might win the final.”

Griffin said a rare setback a few months ago really shook the bitch’s confidence and was only getting back to herself recently.

“She had a race fall back in June and for around half a dozen starts after that she’d get to the turn and baulk dropping back a couple of lengths in the field, which was costing her races over the 380 metres,” he said.

“It really mentally scarred her and took a while to get over but seeing her land on the bunny is just the tonic, she’s not going to be worried if she’s a couple of lengths out in front.”

The race fall was an anomaly in what has been an extraordinary career thus far, racking up 58 starts without a spell since March 2019, with another milestone on her doorstep.

“It’s been pretty amazing to see her put 58 starts together without any real injury issues; her sire Don’t Knocka Him has a bit of a reputation for breeding dogs with a fair bit of durability and longevity and hopefully she’s one of them,” Griffin said.

“She turns three-years-old tomorrow, so it’d be a great birthday present if she was to come out running and win the final.”

Griffin isn’t one to sweat before races, though he does have a score to settle with the North Queensland Sprint and he thinks his bitch has what it takes to win it.

“I like to think I’m pretty laid back in general but it’s a race I’d love to win, I had a dog called Kieran’s Entity finish second in the race twice and would love to go one better with As Magic Is,” he said.

“Funnily enough, you look at her form and she’s done her best racing out of box six; I’ll wait on the draw tomorrow but two, three of four are probably the ones I really want but if she can land two lengths in front again it might not matter.

“Her first 15 starts of her career she used to come out last, so I built a starting box in my backyard which is just in suburbia and now the best part of her racing is her box manners.”

Griffin has attained a remarkable return on investment with As Magic Is, getting the bitch for an absolute steal and plenty of money in the kitty for his next dog.

“I bought her off Colin Dalton who’d bred her and broke her in down in Victoria, and I ended up buying her for $800 as an untried maiden with no idea of what I was really getting,” Griffin laughed.

“It took her 10 starts to win her maiden which was a fair wait, but training one dog I wasn’t in a hurry and she gradually started to come along and went through her grades.

“Couple her prize money with her starting fees and she’s earnt over $19,000 from the original $800, she’s more than paid her way and has just been such a wonderful hobby for me.”

Griffin has come full circle as a greyhound trainer, first starting in the 70s before life took over, and he’s now appreciating every moment he gets with his star.

“I first trained dogs up here 42 years ago and then of course family and work commitments took over and I started back up again seven years ago now that I’m fully retired,” he said.

“Over those seven years I’ve always made sure I have one dog at a time; it’s all I need, it keeps me interested and gives me something to spend my time on.

“The only downside of seeing her win is all my mates want me to shout them for the night which I’m happy enough to do.

“I don’t bet or drink so I’m on the diet cokes when they’re on the Bundy Rums but we’ll all be having a great time if she wins on Friday.”