By BRIDGET SCOTT
FOR renowned trainer Stan Ralph it was hard to pinpoint one highlight from his 40 years in the greyhound industry, but he admitted the entire journey has been a blast.
With two Warragul Cups under his belt, as well as a long list of other notable races, Stan couldn’t deny that the quality time spent with his family due to the greyhounds added icing to the cake.
“It’s been very helpful to keep our family together,” he said.
“I’ve spent a lot more hours with my family, dragging them off to races all over countryside.”
The Tooradin man put his years of success down to commitment and sacrifice.
“The success comes down to common sense and wanting to get things right, you only get out what you put in,” he said.
“For example we would go to a wedding, come home and do the dogs, then go back for the reception.”
“But you gladly do it because the dogs are part of your life.”
In an amusing turn of events, Stan said a few too many pots celebrating the purchase of his first dog led him to buy another. Then the rest as they say, is history.
“Ï actually went to buy one, celebrated with a lot of beer, then ended up with another.”
“The first one I got wasn’t much chop but the second one was very good, then we were hooked.”
With a couple of winners behind him, Stan agreed dogs Labyrinth and Fibba were two of his most successful.
The trainer also mentioned dogs Sonador and Shanlyn Lucy, who he described as “pretty special,” were at the top of his list.
In 1999, Fibba won the Warragul Cup followed by Labyrinth the year after.
Fibba had 72 career starts for 29 wins and 11 placings, accumulating $153, 000 in prize money. He had 5 starts at Warragul for 4 wins and a 3rd placing in the 1998 Warragul Cup.
Labyrinth had 52 starts for 17 wins and 13 placings winning $115,000 in prize money, recording 5 wins at Warragul
Both dogs were sired by the legendary stud dog Head Honcho.
The Warragul Greyhound Club has been a big part of Stan’s life throughout a majority of his career.
“Warragul has always been close to where we live, and we consider ourselves part of the club,” he said.
“It’s been a happy hunting ground for us.”
As Stan’s training career continues, the dog lover said there are constantly new competitors capturing his eyes, but in the meantime he is excited for one of his own.
Dubbing him as the “quickest dog” he has had in 40 years, Zipping Simmo has shown some promise.
“I had a young dog win on Sunday at Sandown, he runs 29.24, and you get excited again with another young dog.”
The trainer said the “dogs have been nice to us” and mentioned that his passion for them adds to the enjoyment of his hobby.
Disappointingly for the greyhound veteran he won’t have any names racing in this year’s cup on 22 January.
“Our numbers are quite depleted at the moment, we’ve had a few retire recently and another broke down,” he said.
“We don’t have a Warragul Cup type dog this year, but that’s not through lack of trying.”