Black Comanche delivering on early promise

By Jordan Gerrans

When Peter Hare approached Greg Stella in the bar at Albion Park about taking on an exciting pup he had recently purchased, the veteran trainer was not convinced at first.

“I said to Greg 'I will get you a good dog one day',” Hare remembers with a chuckle.

“I have always known him and Greg does not usually train a big number of dogs.

“Sometime later, I said to him that I thought I had a good dog for him and he said sort of ummed and ahh’d and waited, before saying he would give him a go.”

The Hervey Bay-based Hare has had some quality chasers over his years in the industry but he was yet to ever send a dog to Stella’s kennel, instead having greyhounds with Mick and Selena Zammit, among other trainers. 

“This is the first I have trained for Peter and he did mention to me about taking him on when this one was broken in, and I just said give me call when that happens,” Stella recalls.

“You never know at that early stage.”

Hare had high hopes for the son of Zambora Brockie, as one of the best dogs he has ever owned - Stinger Noir – was also out of a litter from Zambora Brockie as well. 

A few months on now, the Park Ridge-based kennel of Stella is overjoyed they did take on the youngster that Hare purchased, with Black Comanche considered one of the boom dogs in Queensland.

Earlier this week, respected conditioner Tom Tzouvelis branded Black Comanche the best young greyhound he has seen in the Sunshine State since the record-breaking Surf Lorian way back in 2004.

Surf Lorian broke track records at Ipswich and the Gold Coast as well as equalling Flying Amy’s track record at Albion Park.

That is high praise but Black Comanche has backed it up, unbeaten in his two career efforts at Ipswich in lightning quick time as this Saturday evening he looks to claim the time-honoured Group 3 Vince Curry Maiden.

“He is now very happy he made that decision,” Hare said about Stella taking on his dog.

In his Vince Curry semi-final last Saturday, Black Comanche ran 0.01 seconds outside the maiden class record, held by Pop The Cork, who ran 30.16 seconds over the 520-metre journey in the 2015 Vince Curry semi-final.

There was buzz aplenty around Black Comanche weeks before his first official race start, so much so that Stella did not want his trial times published in a media story around his unraced dog.

“I have been in dogs a long time and dogs trialling well and then racing well, sometimes there is a bit of difference between the two,” Stella said.

“With him, I have never had a young dog like him, running the times he has run since day one.

“At the early stage we did not know how strong he was but he runs 500 metres no worries.”

The Zambora Brockie and Tahlia's Way’s litter is proving to be a popular one with fellow Queensland trainers John Dart and Tony Apap also having promising youngsters from it.

“I really liked his breeding, I had a really good dog called Stinger Noir and he made it all the way through to the Million Dollar Chase,” Hare said.

“He was Zambora Brockie and they are both mad chasers. This dog I have got now, he is a mad chaser too.”

Black Comanche is considered a star dog of the future from the popular maiden series and there is another dog that is arguably going just as well.

The Jedda Cutlack-trained She’s Sweet will jump from box two in the Final, with Black Comanche inside her in the red rag, after running 30.18 seconds in her semi-final.

“Black Comanche ran three lengths off the track record in a semi-final and there is another greyhound in the series virtually running the same time,” Stella said.

“It is very unusual.”

With She’s Sweet a speedy beginner, Stella and Hare expect their chaser to sit behind Cutlack’s in the early stages before hopefully taking over later in the event.

Hare, who has been involved in greyhound racing for more than four decades, is making the journey down from the Hervey Bay region this week to watch his gun chaser for the first time in person this Saturday.

He was at an Albion Park trial but he is yet to see Black Comanche go around on race day in person.

“From the day he had his first trial at Golden View, he ran exceptional time first-up,” Hare said.

“He has trialled really, really fast from day one. He is just a natural really.”

Australia's richest maiden race for greyhounds, the Vince Curry Memorial, boasts an increased purse on offer in 2022 with the Final going to $75,000 this year, up from $60,000 in 2021.

Only recently turning 21 months old, the team behind Black Comanche believe there is still lots of development in him, thinking maturity will come with more racing.

“We are very happy with him and we feel like he is a dog that is still going to improve, which Greg feels the same way,” Hare said.

“He is full on with his attitude but he is getting better every time, he is settling down at the track.

“He is still learning as he ran off the track the other day but he might have been going too fast to take the corner.

“He is a beautiful looking dog.”

Stella has been at his Park Ridge property for 30 years and usually has between six and eight dogs in work, as well as a litter of pups.