By Jordan Gerrans
Oh Mickey gave breeder and owner Clint Kratzmann the ride of his life and he has vowed to provide the star greyhound with a perfect and comfortable retirement.
The Brisbane-based Kratzmann was forced to make the tough call to retire one of Queensland’s favourite dogs after a crack in a stopper bone halted his Group 1-winning career.
Oh Mickey has had a relatively injury-free career before the stopper bone concern, getting to the races for 33 starts for 18 wins and seven placings, earning a total of $215,000 in stakes.
Kratzmann has recently named the new shed on his property the “Oh Mickey Lodge” and says he is planning for an enjoyable life for his gun dog into the future.
“I am sad…I have been around it for 20 years and never had a dog like him,” Kratzmann said on Thursday morning.
“I am an optimist, I look at it that I am one of the lucky ones to have a dog like him, at the end of the day he has not had too many starts compared to other dogs, he has had a great career.
“He will have the best life in retirement now.
“It was an amazing ride with the dog.”
A potential retirement for Oh Mickey has been brewing for around six months, only having a handful of starts of late.
Trained by the combination of Mick and Selena Zammit, Kratzmann says they could have brought Oh Mickey back to race after extensive rehabilitation later in 2021 but did not want to see him racing below his scintillating best.
“I do not want a dog like him, that has run the time, won the races he has won and the career he had, I am not the kind of person that would want to see him come back six or seven lengths slower, if we were to get him back,” Kratzmann said.
“I would not like to see that and tarnish the great career he had.
“He has done enough; the dog has earnt the right towards a nice peaceful transition into life on my property…he will be going to the beach once a week.”
Oh Mickey had been sore in his stopper region for some time and his training partnership had been doing everything they could to get him back on track.
Kratzmann, who trained the dog in his first few starts, identified the Group 1 National Derby triumph as the career highlight for the 2020 Queensland greyhound of the year favourite.