By Isaac Murphy
Last Saturday night marked the coming together of an iconic partnership in Ipswich greyhound racing.
Premier owner Greg Board made the trip from Adelaide to meet and celebrate with the Byers family who have owned the Board Syndicates dogs for years without ever meeting face-to-face, and after legendry trainer Col Byers passed away in 2019, his wife Pauline and son Shane are keen to continue to the legacy.
Coming off a South Australian Owner of the Year award a week earlier, Board said it would be a night to remember, as he was joined by members of the Byers family to receive Owner of the Year honours, as well as Greyhound of the Year with Spring Rock and see the kennel take home another training premiership, giving him a true appreciation of the family’s dynasty at Ipswich.
“The stars never aligned where I was able to come up and meet Col (Byers) in person, but I know myself and my son Scott - who’s heavily involved in what we do - felt like we knew him, and he was a mate,” Board said.
“It was tough when we lost him, but obviously it was the family who felt it the most and for Pauline and her son Shane to take the reigns like they did was pretty courageous, and I hope our partnership has helped them press on as well.
“I got to drive out to Pauline’s kennels during the day to see the dogs and the set up firsthand which we’ve been relying on for the last decade, and you can see why they’ve been so good for so long - they’ve got everything covered.”
Never shy to ask a question - especially when there were good dogs involved - it was Byers who first contacted Board to begin their run.
“We used to send a lot of dogs up to north Queensland with a fair bit of success and then one day I get a call from Col asking if we wanted to send them a few to race at Ipswich,” Board said.
“I didn’t know who he was, but he sounded confident and aren’t we glad we went through with it.
“It’s benefited both sides and I think that’s why it’s been successful for so long; we get good money coming in every week, Col and now the family get their share, and have had an amazing run of winning premierships - helped by having plenty of our dogs.
“There’s always been a rapport there on a personal level, I remember Scott calling me saying he just had a great chat to Col about the footy and life without even mentioning the dogs, I don’t think we would have lasted this long if it was purely business.”
Board relocated to Adelaide three years ago but did all the heavy lifting getting his operation off the ground in New South Wales where his son Scott in now at the helm of their bustling business.
“Our main property is actually in New South Wales at Spring Hill; hence we call all of our dogs Spring something, we’ve got about 120 acres and 160 dogs there - it’s a big operation,” Board said.
“We do all the rearing and education at Spring Hill; get to see what kind of dog we have and decide if they’re suited to Ipswich and send them up to Queensland.
“I’ve raced dogs in New South Wales for most of my life and we’ve been lucky enough to win plenty of premierships around there, I think that’s what makes these latest ones more special seeing that we can do it on a national scale.”
The function room was full to the brim at Ipswich, and there was more than one reason to have a laugh and share a drink.
“The night was a massive hit, to finally put a face to the name with Shane, to see one of our dogs Spring Cleo win a race, the way the club has treated us and to win multiple awards has been outstanding,” Board said.
“Spring Cleo actually beat home Spring Rock - the latter taking home Greyhound of the Year honours for us - he won 17 races in 2020, we probably would have taken the quinella the other way around but no complaints.
“You could hear us going nuts in the last race trying to get Spring Bowler home for his eighth straight win since arriving in Queensland - he just missed out - but I’ve got my fingers crossed he can win 2021 Greyhound of the Year and we can do all of this again.”