SNIFFY gave Leo Vanderburg his biggest win in over 50 years as a trainer and became a bargain buy for his seven owners when she led throughout to take out Friday night's $40,000 to the winner group 2 Ladbrokes Richmond Oaks.
Bred by Michael Phillips and David Blench, of Miss Splendamiro fame, and reared and educated by Vanderburg, Sniffy made full use of box one by "coming out under the lids'' to lead throughout in the Oaks.
She is raced by seven members of a social punters' club, headed by Brendon Gillies, a regional manager for NSW Trains.
"Our punters' club won a bit of money so seven of us decided to invest our winnings in a couple of greyhounds,'' Gillies said.
"We bought two puppies from Michael and David, Fringe Eater, who has won four races, and Sniffy, paying just $2500 for the Richmond Oaks winner.
"Michael gets most of his pups whelped and reared by Leo Vanderburg so it was only natural we should get Leo to train our two greyhounds.
"My parents owned greyhounds so I was brought up with an interest in the sport.'
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GOOD Juan will target the group 1 Association Cup at Wentworth Park following his outstanding last-to-first wun over 618m at Richmond on Friday night.
Having only his second start for trainer Harry Sarkis and Seymour (Victoria) based owners Linda Edgerton and Bronte Kumm, Good Juan zipped over the Richmond middle distance trip in a brilliant 35.45sec.
Good Juan was last away but skipped across to the rails and "scraped paint'' off the inside fence for the rest of the journey, storming away in the straight for an easy win.
"He is 33kg but for such a big dog Good Juan is a fantastic railer,'' Sarkis said.
"His immediate mission is the Association Cup, with 720m heats at Wentworth Park on April 4 and the $75,000 to the winner final a week later.
"My only problem now is getting a couple of long-distance races under Good Juan's belt, because he is still not fully fit for staying events.
"After the Association Cup the race I will set Good Juan for is the $175,000 to the winner Sandown Cup over 715m in May.''
Sarkis knows what it takes to prepare a stayer for the Association Cup, having trained Black Aztec, who won the 1981 final, run over 732m at Harold Park.'''
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MICHAEL Phillips and David Blench bought Raven Pearl, the dam of Sniffy, as an untried brood bitch after she had won 10 from 36 starts.
"Raven Pearl is a daughter of the champion Queensland producer Ultra Swift, which is why we bought her,'' Phillips said.
"Sniffy's sister Slick Raven, who is among the best stayers in Queensland, also won in 42.17 at WP in November.
"Because the Ultra Swift dam line is so successful, just a day before the Richmond Oaks we purchased from Kel Lean and Lindsay Davis their very smart race bitch Zinkey, as her dam Black Riband is a full sister to Raven Pearl.''
Sniffy's win gave Phillips and Blench a rare double, as they bred and owned the 2019 Richmond Oaks winner, the Brett Hazelgrove-trained Dam Slippery.
