Townsville dog honours the memory of late mate

By Jordan Gerrans​

Eyes from Tasmania and Western Australia were fixated on a Townsville maiden earlier this week as a group of mates honoured their late friend who tragically died suddenly in 2019.

A debutant runner by the name of Shot Duke carried plenty of pressure to perform on Tuesday evening in the first outing of his career.

The red brindle dog did not let down his loyal followers and got the cash over 380 metres and in the process helped recognise and celebrate the life of the late Luke Richardson.

Richardson unexpectedly passed away from a brain aneurysm in late 2019.

Richardson was a state-level lawn bowler in Western Australia and Tasmania before he sadly died.

A group of his mates from his bowls days were keen to honour his memory and put together a syndicate to purchase a greyhound, which became Shot Duke.

The WA-based Shane Loftus described Richardson as a popular person within the bowling community in the states he lived in.

Loftus helped put the syndicate together of Richardson’s friends, family and old team mates.

“When we bought the dog, we always said we would put the dog in a syndicate and name the dog after him,” Loftus said.

“Luke’s nickname was Duke and Shot Duke comes from when you play well in lawn bowls you would say ‘shot mate’ or something like that.

“We tried to get ‘Richo’ for the dog’s name but we couldn’t get that.

“A lot of the lawn bowling fraternity in WA knew him well and it was tragic what happened.”

Richardson was a current Tasmanian men’s state player at the time of his death.

The initial plan was for the dog – from a Federal Morgan and Flo Jo Focus litter – to race in Western Australia so the majority of the owners could watch him race in person.

Instead, he ended up on the other side of the country under the care of leading North Queensland dog man Brad Belford.

“The dog took a little while to get going and we brought him over to Western Australia as we really wanted to watch him race here locally,” Loftus said.

“He was not going that well over here so long story short we sent him to Townsville as Brad was training a few dogs from the same litter.

“Brad was doing well with the litter brothers and sisters. Brad has got him fit and on the go. It was awesome to see him win on Tuesday night.

“It has taken a while but we have persisted and it has turned out well.”

Shot Duke scored in 22.15 seconds on Tuesday evening in a heat of the Robert Olsen Maiden Series.

In his first effort in a race, Shot Duke missed the jump slightly before working his way up to second position at the home turn and he was able to sneak up the inside to claim victory.

A large number of Richardson’s friends and family were glued to the television.

“The family was all watching on Tuesday night in Tasmania,” Loftus said.

“There was a lot of pressure on it actually as there was a big mob of people watching so it was good he won. It was awesome for them.”

After winning from the six position in Tuesday’s heat, Shot Duke will commence from the same alley in the upcoming Final.

Loftus – who is an owner and breeder of many greyhounds – thinks the North Queensland-based youngster has a bright future under the stewardship of Belford.

“He is a good dog – we know that – but he would just get too excited and play up in the boxes,” Loftus said.

“Brad has been doing a lot of work with that to get him sorted so he does not miss the start.

“That was the biggest problem with him as he is quite a quick dog so hopefully in time with some maturity, he will get those box manners right and he will be a lot better than what he is.”

Shot Clock may return to WA to race in front of Richardson’s mates on a more regular basis later in his career but at the moment the ownership group are more than happy with the job Belford is doing with the promising chaser.

Belford also trains Federal Duke, Federal Mercedes and Federal War from the litter and also had Federal Remark before he was transferred to the care of Tim Britton recently.