A Sunday maiden win at Sandown has given group 1 winning trainer Brooke Ennis one of her proudest moments in greyhound racing.
Brooke and her husband Jamie are among the country’s most highly regarded training combinations. Between them, they have prepared 74 winners in 2016 at an impressive strike rate of over 30% and have tasted success in some of the sport’s biggest races including the Golden Easter Egg, Perth Cup and Temlee. But when debutant Exs And Ohs ran away from the field to score by 11 lengths on Sunday, Brooke declared it one of her proudest moments.
“Every race win is special but when you do all the work from the time they’re born to the time they get to the track it’s just that little bit more special. Especially when they have had to overcome a bit along the way. I’m really proud of her, I’m like a proud mum!” said Ennis.
Exs And Ohs has a special place in Ennis’ Lara kennels. ‘Millie’ as she is known at home is a member of the first litter bred and reared by Ennis. Not that it was planned that way.
“I had the opportunity to breed with a litter sister to (group one winner and former kennel star) My Bro Fabio. I spoke to George Dailly who had recently been to the United States and he recommended a couple of sires that were going well over there so I decided to go with SH Avatar.
“We normally send our pups to Mick and Michelle Jones in NSW to be reared, but they were full so I decided to rear them myself. If I could I’d rear three or four litters here, but it’s hard to rear pups and race dogs. It takes time to do them both properly.
“But it is something I really enjoy, even when we get home late after racing I love spending time with them. Spending time with them and playing with them definitely helps to make them better race dogs, and also makes them a better pet at the end of their career.”
Exs And Ohs’ win came a day after littermate Matt Machine recorded his first city win at the Meadows. And while Ennis was delighted with ‘Cody’s’ win, Millie’s triumph was all the more rewarding given the near fatal run in she had with a tiger snake nearly 12 months ago.
“One Saturday night when they were about 12 months old, I was out the back and they were barking and carrying on which was a bit unusual because they’re normally very quiet. I said to Jamie ‘I think there’s something going on’ so we went and had a look and there they were barking at a snake between their kennels. Millie must have got bitten while we were dealing with the snake, we rushed her to a 24 hour emergency clinic in Geelong and fortunately we got her treated in time. She recovered well but it did knock her around a bit.
“Because of that we took our time with her, she was only little and pretty timid. We sent her to the breakers a little later than we normally would, and when she came back she took a bit longer to work out what racing was about. Jamie suggested I put her in GAP but I didn’t want to give up on her so I stuck with her and she kept improving and now she’s won a race. It’s very rewarding”
Despite Exs And Ohs’ emphatic debut victory, Ennis is cautious on her chances on Thursday night.
“We’re a little unlucky, it’s a pretty hot maiden final. I don’t think she’ll win on Thursday but I’m not too worried about that. We’ll take her through her grades – she’ll probably get a bit more ground over time – we’ll see where that takes her.”
Exs And Ohs will jump from box 3 in the first race at Sandown Park on Thursday night, while litter mate Matt Machine will line up in race 12.
The feature event on Thursday night is the Speed Star which brings together eight of the fastest greyhounds in the country in a series of match races to determine Australia’s fastest greyhound. There’s $2500 up for grabs in the Top Dog Tipping Knockout competition.
Click here for full details for your guide to Thursday’s big night of greyhound racing.
You can follow Brooke on Twitter @brookeennis8
Exs And Ohs wins by 11 lengths on debut
