Masters queen eyes fitting farewell

By Jordan Gerrans

With retirement on the horizon, the Deering kennel is eager for consistent chaser Riorson Bale to go out on a high in Saturday’s Carnival Masters Final.

The daughter of Feral Franky has been a star in the masters ranks over the last year, underlined by her performance in the Group 3 Golden Oldies Final in February.

On that occasion, Riorson Bale won from the seven alley in 29.66 seconds.

In her bid for another feature gong on Saturday evening on the Q2 Parklands circuit, the brindle bitch will again commence from the black. 

As Riorson Bale has just ticked past her fourth birthday, trainer and owner Greg Deering says her racing days will soon come to an end.

Deering prepares his small team of chasers alongside his wife Kim Woods and rates Riorson Bale in the top three greyhounds the family has ever prepared.

“I'll miss her racing because she's very competitive,” Deering said.

“But, I'm looking forward to the future and hopefully we can put her to Fernando Bale. Hopefully all goes well and we get some pups.”

If Riorson Bale is to salute on Saturday evening, she goes to the breeding phase of her career as a dual Group 3 victor with almost 20 wins to her name.

The consistent chaser has been a revelation for the Deering and Woods team at Karrabin since they purchased her from Victoria in August of 2024.

At that point in her career, she had won just once in 19 attempts.

While Deering is listed as the trainer, he says it is a team effort at the kennel, with six dogs in work. 

“I don't think you can do it by yourself, there is heaps of help around here,” he said.

“We both work, so we toss-up who goes there to the track. The wife can, she might be able to drop the dog off and then I go there, then she comes back later.

“Basically, Kim now does the morning. She lets them out in the mornings and does the breakfast, then I'll do the afternoons and then put them away at night.

“But, you can't do it on your own, especially if you both work full-time. We've got our middle boy, he's early 20s and when we need to have a break, go away or something, he's always here.

“He'll come home and feed the dogs for us and help out. Some nights if we're short, he'll come and catch the dog, so he can do it.

“We definitely need him to help us out.”

When Riorson Bale triumphed in the Group 3 Golden Oldies Final in February, Woods was on hand as she boxed the dog and was interviewed post-race on the Sky Racing broadcast.

“We just have to make it work, between juggling full-time work, the dogs and kids,” Woods said.

“We're just tag-teaming between sports, races.

“I'm lucky I have the flexibility in my job to be able to get to the races during daytime and drop-offs in kennelling time and time for the races.

“I think we've each got our own jobs that we do.

“We've each got our own unique way of doing things. But, we've got a pretty good routine where I'm doing the dogs in the morning and he's doing the afternoons.

“You have to make it work.”

Riorson Bale returned to winning ways in last Thursday's heat, scoring in 29.82 seconds after four winless starts since her latest Group 3 victory.

She is a four-time winner from 15 attempts from the seven box and Deering was thrilled with the return to form performance. 

“I was happy with her run,” he said.

“I know she's not the quickest out, so if she got to the corner sitting one or two off the lead, I knew she'd do pretty well.

“She's probably the strongest one in the field, so I knew she'd run them down.

“She's strong home, so that's what she's been running. She definitely is strong enough to run it.

“She knows box seven. I am a bit worried; there is probably a bit of speed on the outside.

“Tahitian Girl, Andy Mulrine’s dog, in the eight, that one will probably get out as quick and be able to lead.

“If Riorson Bale can get through the corner, like she can, if she can get through the corner untouched, she's one of the strongest home.

“So, it just depends on what the gap is between her and where she sits around that first corner.”

The Deering kennel prepared former chaser Times Three to a minor placing at Group 1 level in February of 2023. 

So, they are hardly novices when it comes to carnival racing, but Deering admits the Group 3 prize earlier this year was a special occasion. 

“When you've got a competitive dog, it's good to show up any night really,” he said.

“We were happy, we planned her to go into that race.

“I think she'd just started her masters career. 

"It was great to get through to that race and then everyone could see how she goes.”