Exciting young greyhounds unleashed in the north and south
Peter Fenemor • February 11th, 2025 10:32 AM
Exciting youngsters unleashed
Last week two greyhounds made explosive starts to their racing careers with the potent manner of their respective wins indicating that both youngsters own exceptional ability.
In the north the up and coming conditioner Sean Codlin produced Thrilling Amalie to deliver a pair of ultra-impressive 318m and 375m wins.
In the south it was the highflying Dave Fahey and Katie Wyllie training partnership who debuted Taieri Gout for his impressive 525m victory.
Thrilling Amalie was warmly supported for her February 2 Manukau 318m debut sprint following a tidy 21.35 375m Cambridge trial.
It was the blue racing vest worn by the $1.30 tote favourite that pinged away from the 318m traps and after 18.82 seconds of chasing she was awarded an 11.5 length winning margin.
It was a duplicate result on Thursday, when again wearing blue, Thrilling Amelia displayed blinding pace to stop the clock in an electric 21.02 seconds – a time that the open class sprinters would be proud to have listed beside their names.
On this occasion the daughter of Hooked On Scotch and Thrilling Amelia mauled her rivals by an ever increasing 13.25 length margin, while returning her supporters another $1.30 win dividend.
What makes her career prospects even more exciting for her owing Until The End syndicate, comprising of Sean Codlin, Steve Codlin, Dion Walker, Eddie Mathews and northern race commentator Aaron White, is that Thrilling Amalie is bred to strongly run out longer race distances.
Her mum Thrilling Amelia easily won the 2021 edition of the prestigious Duke Of Edinburgh Silver Collar over Australasia’s longest race distance 779m, when prepared by the leading strike rate trainer Karen Walsh for Gary Harding. It was this pair who bred, reared and broke in Thrilling Amalie.
“When Gary and Karen put Thrilling Amalie on the market I instantly snapped her up,” explained Sean Codlin.
“I haven’t been involved in a greyhound with her potential since I raced Sweet Potential (25 wins). She has come along pretty quickly and what is even more exciting is that she has a lot more maturing to do.
“In Karen’s experienced opinion Thrilling Amelia is likely to develop into a stayer. She is showing signs like her mother, which is awesome,” an excited Codlin explained.
Sure her two races so far have been short course sprints, however the most exciting aspect that can be taken from Thrilling Amelia are her run home times. Let’s take a look Thursday’s 375m sprint where Thrilling Amelia cut out her last sectional in a slick 6.46.
Now compare her run home time to that produced by the current low-flying Lisa and Tracey Craik prepared open-class sprinter Lion’s Den, who on Thursday clocked 20.90 for her 375m winning sprint, running home in 6.50. .
“I’m looking at plucking off a C1 457m race with her on Thursday, then I’ll probably bring her back to Manukau for a 527m."
And yes, Thrilling Amalie now steps up to 457m racing this Thursday back at Cambridge where she will be sighted wearing the TAB 3 rug in race 5.
“I’m rapt to have the boys I have who are in her racing her,” enthused Codlin who so far this season has trained 52 winners from his Te Kauwhata base.
Taieri Gout shatters Addington C0 525m record
Friday afternoon at the Addington Raceway saw the Dave Fahey and Katie Wyllie training partnership produce Taieri Gout for his debut assignment.
He was installed as the $1.40 tote favourite following his smart recent 16.90 295m qualifying trial. Tairei Gout jumped cleanly from the 525m one-trap and the further they went, the further the red racing vest he was wearing went ahead.
Tairei Gout built a commanding 11.75 length margin over his rivals, clocking a sensational 30.18 seconds. His time obliterated the previous beat Addington Maiden 525m best, which had stood at 30.48.
However Tairei Gout very nearly didn’t make it as a race-dog as Wyllie informs us.
“We couldn’t get him going, so it was decided to pop him onto the rehoming list. He went to Ray Casey to get ready for GAP (Greyhound As Pets), then Ray rang Dave and asked if he could have a go at getting him to chase.
“After a while Ray came back to us saying we might have a nice dog here. Ray did all the hard yards with him, doing an amazing job.”
Ray Casey, who is a very experienced and successful trainer, now heads the owning Pride of South syndicate. “We’re absolutely thrilled to be training Tairei Gout for Ray – the syndicate are going to have a lot of fun with him,” added Wyllie, who is the Youth representative on the GRNZ Board.
And there are others from the Aussie Infrared and Pretty Busy litter who are also shaping up as promising chasers.
Fahey and Wyllie apply the finishing touches to Cool Friends, who made if four wins from five races on Monday when taking out her Addington 295m dash in 16.98 and Hendrix Ruler who won his Maiden race over 457m at the Manawatu Raceway in a handy 25.82. Both are raced by Jean and Dave Fahey.
Northern trainer Phil Green prepares the promising sprinter Foxtrot Mila (3 wins) for Mark Lin and Dion Walker, who were also involved in the ownership of the recently retired multiple Group race winner Opawa Hugo.
Photograph at the top of the page: Thrilling Amalie following her outstanding Manukau 318m debut win.
Photo Credit: Auckland GRC
