They all dream of one day, having that superstar in their kennel and heading to town to upstage the big time trainers. But just as important to country greyhound trainers is success in their hometown feature event.
“There is no doubt this is the race every local trainer dreams about winning,” said Wagga trainer Ben Talbot of his town’s major event the Bidgee Cup.
“Sure everyone will say they would love to win an Easter Egg or Million Dollar Chase - I know that I would like to as well - but there’s something special about chasing and trying to win a cup in your hometown.
“It’s not about the money. You have the chance to do it in front of your family and your friends, and quite often the hometown cup is the race you grew up watching as a kid and to be able to win it … it really means a lot.
“We are smack bang in the middle between The Meadows and Wentworth Park, and the big trainers quite often come from Sydney and Melbourne, and the Victorians have had a bit of luck in recent years, but we are getting more and more participants locally who are wanting to have a go at it, wanting to try and mix it with the big trainers when they come here.
“We have a lot of good young dogs coming through here at Wagga, and I think we might have a good chance of a local Cup winner this year.”
The Grenfells – husband and wife team of Correy and Samantha – have won the past three Cups in Wagga, Vayda Bale winning the last two while Yozo Bale took out the Cup before that, while in 2019 Frank Hurst won with Good Odds Buddy. Five months later Buddy’s brother Good Odds Harada would win the Million Dollar Chase.
The Bidgee Cup – now named after the Murrumbidgee River - was formerly known as the Graeme Hull Smash Repairs Memorial Gold Cup, named in 2012 in honour of the man who offered so much support to the local club and industry.
“The reason for the name change was twofold. Our Cup became known as the Wagga Gold Cup and that brought some confusion as the gallops feature is also called that,” said Talbot who is now president of the Wagga Greyhound Club.
“The other reason was the family sold the Smash Repair business. I spoke with the family and Brett (Hull) at length about the idea of changing the name and they were very supportive of it and happy for us to go in this new direction. So we decided to go out and make it our own brand so people knew that it was the greyhounds.”
Heats of the Ladbrokes Bidgee Cup will be run on November 3 with the final which carries $25,000 for the winner to be held on November 10.
“We hope to have a lot of children and families here on Final night. We have a massive grass noll here, it’s a very safe environment, parents can come and sit down and enjoy themselves, kids can run around, while their parents unwind.
“There will be plenty of entertainment for everyone. We have Zana Aerial Dance performing, live music with Cath Wall, a local singer performing, we have face painting, ice cream, lot of local stalls, it will be a great night for all.”
