It was a big decision for Priest to pull the trigger on the move north, but after some tough years for the family a new start looked the right move.
“As a family we needed a change; we’ve lost a few love ones in recent years, so we wanted to come up here and start a fresh, the people, racing and most things have been great so far,” he said.
“I’ve kept a close eye on Queensland racing over the years and I was lucky enough to make a Brisbane Cup Final and to come up now and see how much it’s grown over the last few years is incredible, it’s a good time to be a greyhound trainer in Queensland.
“It’s been a slow transition for us, but we’ve tried to enjoy every moment of it.
“We’re only leasing our place at the moment but are looking out for the right property to settle down and really get to work on establishing ourselves up here.”
Like many other trainers, Priest’s interest was piqued as a young bloke and his mates that wanted to get into racing, something that’s morphed into a lifelong profession.
“I’ve been training for over twenty years now, I started as a teenager getting involved in dogs and horses with some mates, kicked some goals with a few good ones and eventually moved onto a farm and started running our own operation full time,” Priest said.
“We were lucky enough to breed Old Spice track, a record holder at Maitland, who took us a long way to Group finals and a long list of other good dogs that sustained us down there for a long period of time.
“We always saw it as a family affair, everyone would do their part while having their own work as well.
“It’s only since we moved up here it’s become a full-time profession, because we want to build our numbers and set up for the next twenty years.”
An active member of the community, Priest wasn’t always training greyhounds but the balance he struck up between his sporting prowess and training success was just the right tonic.
“I played a lot of local Rugby Union down in Newcastle just below the top grade right up until I was about thirty-eight and played cricket until about forty,” Priest said.
“I used to get a big rush out of sport even when I was a kid, so greyhound racing has always been a great foil for that as it gets the competitive juices flowing especially now I’m well into retirement.”
While Terry Priest’s training career is winding down, his son Josh (19) is just getting started, and the proud dad is confident his son’s commitment will take him a long way.
“My son Josh is fully invested in becoming a greyhound trainer, I’ve got two other kids who have gone through university and done very well, but we like to say Josh was born with a lead in his hand and I’ve got no doubt he’ll be a top trainer when his day comes,” Priest said.
“Everything we’re doing now with building a team and finding a permanent home is about Josh’s future, once we have that in place the old fella can retire, and the young bull take over.
“All the trainers have treated him great up here as a young bloke coming through in the sport, he’s always listening and learning.”
Capalaba has been a necessary staple since the Priests arrived in Queensland, with winning races up the straight getting their foot in the door.
“When we came up, we had one really good circle dog Devil Ted who would have gone to Albion but unfortunately he picked up an injury,” Priest said.
“We’ve picked up a lot of dogs since coming to Queensland that have been on the comeback from injury and not quite up to the big time, so horses for courses we’ve started them at Capalaba and been fortunate enough to do really well there.
“The phone never stops ringing from trainers interstate about good straight dogs they want to send up, so we might get a few handy ones once the borders are fully opened.”