Holly Taylor making her own unruly path in racing

By Jordan Gerrans

Teenage conditioner Holly Taylor thinks she has found the right bloodline to establish her training operation after promising youngster Unruly Boy qualified for the most prestigious race of his short career yet. 

At just 19 years of age, Taylor has been prominent at The Q and on Northern Rivers greyhound tracks in recent times through the exploits of her talented Jungle Deuce and Magical Mia litter. 

The third-generation greyhound participant is leading the next crop of young dog participants in the Sunshine State alongside passionate young Kiwi Ella Cole and Bailey Dargusch, among others.

Taylor’s Unruly Boy has put her burgeoning kennel up in lights and he will contest the decider of the feature Ipswich Derby on Thursday evening at Q1 Lakeside after upsetting Blue Blend in a heat. 

The well-spoken teenager is still pinching herself about all the success her maiden litter of runners has achieved. 

“I have been very lucky, I am lucky to have this litter I have now to start off with,” she said.

“It doesn’t get much better than that so I am enjoying every minute of it.

“Unruly Boy has only had nine starts and already has been in some good races so it is very good, this would be the biggest race he has been in so far.

“We were very lucky to get Magical Mia.

“It is so important to have your own bloodline and broodbitch so hopefully Magical Mia is that for us.”

Taylor is based at Shannon Brook which is near Casino in Northern New South Wales.

She has been training for a little over a year.

Taylor and her mother Karen Ulrick – who also trains – were gifted broodbitch Magical Mia by Grafton trainer Christopher Field. 

Field did so after Taylor would often help him out on race days in her younger years before she went into training herself. 

With Magical Mia’s first litter to champion stud dog Jungle Deuce, all eight that have been to the races have won and they have tallied almost $90,000 in career stakes. 

Taylor and Ulrick race seven of the litter as a team.

Mr. Field and Unruly Boy have been the flag bearers for the litter so far, sharing in nine victories. 

Unruly Boy gets his chance in the Group 3 Ipswich Derby but he has plenty of experience already in feature events. 

He ran in the Dave Brett Memorial Final at Q1 Lakeside in the middle of September which was before contesting a big Grafton maiden event in July.

Jeff Crawford’s race favourite Blue Blend looked to be making ground out wide from the eight in Thursday’s heat before he was shuffled back by Unruly Boy just before the home turn. 

Taylor’s promising youngster eventually scored in 25.34 seconds as Blue Blend was forced to settle for third. 

“The performance was good,” Taylor said.

“I was worried when Blue Blend was going two to their one and if that didn’t happen in the run, he probably would have won.

“My dog made his own luck. I didn’t really give him much chance from the draw in the two on Thursday night before I know how much he wants to get off the track.

“I thought the race would be tough and was hoping for a placing.

“I know the dog is good enough, but I just thought he didn’t have a lot going his way when the draw came out.”

In the couple of feature Finals that Unruly Boy has started in during his young career, Taylor laments that he has jumped from inside alleys on both occasions. 

She has her fingers crossed that the red brindle dog can cop a wide starting position for the $45,000 event. 

Also at Q1 Lakeside on Thursday evening, Denise Robinson’s Grevillea lowered the 457 metre track record in an earlier heat of the Ipswich Derby. 

The black dog blitzed his Derby heat in 24.86 seconds. 

Leading local trainer Crawford had another prolific night at the office as his kennel won four Derby and Futurity heats across the program. 

Crawford’s litter sisters Hooked On Kisses and Kisses For Me won Futurity heats while litter brothers Validate and Miles On It prevailed in their Derby races.

Validate had previously held the track record at 24.99 seconds before Grevillea stormed to victory.