Johnston team banking on their girl Stella

By Jordan Gerrans

Greyhound racing does not have official training partnerships like the other two racing codes, but if the sport did - Michael and Riley Johnston would certainly be together as a team.

The father-and-son combination at Karalee prepare a small team of chasers and have drawn perfectly for the time-honoured Vince Curry Memorial Final on Thursday evening on the Q2 Parklands circuit.

The Johnstons' Our Girl Stella won a heat last month in smart time before finishing second in a semi-final to book a position in the decider.

Michael trained a team of dogs more than a decade ago when Riley was much younger and had great success, including claiming an Ipswich Gold Cup.

He spent more than a decade away from the caper to focus his attention on his family and work interests.

Now that the 32-year-old Riley has grown up, Michael has rejoined the sport in recent years with his son taking on a key role in his kennel.

Michael is still busy as ever with his work commitments but with Riley’s growth and development around the dogs, his father can trust him to take on more responsibilities around the kennel.

On the showpiece evening for the Queensland Golden Greys Summer Racing Carnival, the Johnston team are hopeful of claiming their biggest race win yet since going into an ‘unofficial partnership’.

“The reality of it is, I can't do it alone. I work,” Michael said.

“I do big hours where I work, so Riley helps me. We're very much a partnership. I couldn't do it without him.

“He's very confident when I'm away because I travel a little bit for work. It seems to work. We've been fairly successful in the last couple of years while we've been doing it.

“The good thing about it is as a small family, we're all involved and we really enjoy it. 

“My wife does a little bit, but the main one is Riley. Then my brother who lives interstate and likes to own a few dogs, he helps when he visits.

“We love it. I love it. We're really happy with how we've gone since we've come back and really enjoy it.”

The popular Vince Curry Memorial is a series the Johnston family have been prominent in throughout recent campaigns.

Kennel ace Comedy Act won a heat of the series back in January of 2024 when the richest series for maiden runners in Australia was still held at Ipswich.

Comedy Act bowed out of the feature series at the semi-final stage after finishing sixth.

While Comedy Act couldn’t qualify for the major Final of the Vince Curry series, he did rattle off three wins on the trot at the Ipswich venue soon after.

The black dog has been the Johnston team’s kennel star since they rejoined the sport, claiming 16 races and being placed on 14 more occasions from 57 attempts.

He has landed $86,275 in career earnings for Michael as an owner and trainer. 

Comedy Act has not won in his last nine starts and the kennel are hopeful Our Girl Stella can replace him as the flag bearer for the team in the near future.

The well-bred bitch put together the fastest heat run of the early stage of the series, scoring in 29.99 seconds from the one alley.

She was the only winner to break 30 seconds when leading throughout.

A week later in the semi-final, she began from the five and ran into second behind Terra Bella.

“We were pleasantly surprised and delighted with Our Girl Stella in the heats because we hadn't had her in the kennel long,” Michael said.

“We didn't think we were up to that stage.

“That was her first 500 metre run in a couple of months, so we didn't think we were that far along.

"The run home time was particularly strong for Our Girl Stella. I was pleasantly and really pleased. 

“To be fair, I was a little bit disappointed when we went to the front and Terra Bella went round us in the semi-final.

“But, thinking about it, it was her second 500 metre run in two months and maybe she felt the run from the week before.

“So, we're hoping for this week that she's improved a bit more and she'll even improve on that first heat time.”

Michael’s brother Bob Johnston purchased Our Girl Stella – from a Shima Shine and Good Odds Emma mating - as a pup from breeder Andy Lord.

Our Girl Stella has drawn the one alley for Thursday’s coveted Group 3 event.

“She came up from my brother's and his partner Amber only like 20 days before the heat,” Michael said.

“They own her. They've sent her north for me to train, which I'm delighted to do.

“They love the breeding. So, they're hoping there's things for her in the future after racing, but it's one step at a time at the moment. 

“I haven't had her long, but I think one of her strengths is she looks like she's a very clean beginner.

“She gets herself to the front, albeit there's two in the race that went very quick early last week that are going to be hard to beat.

“But, I think that's her best attribute, how she begins and she looks like she runs a straight line to the first corner. 

“Hopefully we can be at the front end of running into that first corner.”

With a couple of Group 1 events to be contested on Thursday evening at The Q, Michael says it is a thrill for his small kennel to have a runner on the program.

“It's the richest maiden in Australia, possibly the world,” he said.

“And, if you're close and you can run 500 metres and think you'll be competitive, why not have a go?

“For us, having Our Girl Stella in the Vince Curry Final, it's prestigious.

“We're a very small kennel compared to some, so it's very rewarding for our little family operation to get in a Group 3 race like this.

“It's very pleasing. She's staying here in Queensland and we hope that we can have a good year with her.”