Local Jockeys Riding High On Kiss Chasey
Local Jockeys Riding High On Kiss Chasey
A chance meeting at the WA Racing Hall Of Fame Dinner two years ago was the catalyst for local Jockey Ryan Hill to enter the world of greyhound ownership and on Saturday night it may well culminate in feature race glory with his chaser Kiss Me Linda one of the key fancies in the Listed Greyhounds WA Puppy Classic Final.
Hill was seated at the same table as Hall Of Famer Linda Britton at the 2017 gala event and he enquired as to how he could get involved in owning a dog.
“As the night went on I started asking Linda a few questions about how I would go about getting involved in a greyhound and she said I have a litter of pups there at the moment out of West On Bluebird – you can come down and take your pick of the litter if you like.” Hill explained.
“Not being one to mess around I drummed up the Parnham boys, Shane Kirkup and Gareth Hall and we formed the From the Jockeys Mouth Syndicate and we decided we would give it a go.” Hill added.
“A couple of weeks later myself, Brad and Brad’s partner Sarah went down to Linda and Chris Halse’s property and we picked out who is now our girl Kiss Me Linda.”
“There was no real magic in how we picked her – she was just very friendly and she kind of kept finding her way over to where we were. We decided she was the one for us.” Hill explained.
“Right the way through it has had a sense of it’s meant to be. Just before it was time to make final payment on her we were going to open it up to some more owners and I said to Brad lets go the Casino with $1,000 – if we can turn it into something we will just keep the remainder of the share to ourselves.”
“As chance would have it our luck was in that night and we won $6,000 and bought the remainder of the shares between us.” Hill said.
It has proven to be a fruitful decision with the daughter of Kinloch Brae and West On Bluebird excelling on the racetrack where she has had 11 starts for 4 wins, 3 seconds and 3 thirds and stake earnings in excess of $20,000.
Last week in her Puppy Classic heat Kiss Me Linda came out running from box four running a slick first split of 5.47 to lead before extending mid race and going on to win by 2 and a quarter lengths in a new Personal Best time of 29.93 seconds.
She has once again come up with the draw in box four for Saturday nights $19,950 to the winner final.
“Her early pace is her biggest asset and she showed last week that box four is not an issue for her.” Hill claimed.
“Her kennelmate Feelin’ Alright went slightly quicker than her overall last week but Linda was clearly the second quickest and if we could get across and lead up then they would have to pretty good to run her down.” he suggested.
When asked how he would be feeling on Saturday night pre-race his response spoke for itself.
“Bloody nervous!” Hill joked.
“Myself and the Parnham Brothers live and breathe racing every day of our lives and to be honest we never get nervous before going to ride on raceday but for some reason every time we watch Linda race we all get a bit edgy.”
“There are special viewing spots that we have individually picked out that we all like to be in before she races – I guess we are a little bit superstitious!”
“We have all fallen in love with her and I think part of the nerves is about just wanting to make sure that she gets around safe and sound.”
“Win, lose or draw we all look forward to going to see her post race and giving her a hug and a pat and thanking her for giving it her best.” Hill added.
Part of the enjoyment for the Syndicate has been the thrill of bringing along family and friends and supporting Kiss Me Linda on racenight.
“We all bring along our partners and family and friends, from little kids right through to grandparents and it all helps to create such a great atmosphere at the track.” Ryan commented.
Hall Of Fame Thoroughbred Trainer Neville Parnham and fellow legendary local trainer Graeme Webster are among the Kiss Me Linda support squad.
“Neville has won some of the most prestigious events on the Australian Racing Calendar but he is as vocal as any of us in his support of Linda on race night.” Hill said.
“It is also tremendous to have the support of Mr Webster and to see him enjoying himself chatting with fellow racing stalwarts like Jimmy Chadwick on track it is a great advertisement for how much fun racing can be for people of all generations.” Hill continued.
Finally when asked about the journey so far Hill was again crystal clear in regards to his opinion.
“It has been an awesome ride.” Hill suggested.
“The fellow owners are quality people, even Gareth!” Hill joked in relation to lucky owner Gareth Hall who is the Host of the ‘The Sports Daily’ on TAB Radio and a wonderful supporter of all three codes of racing in this state.
“We cannot thank Chris Halse and Linda Britton and chief handler Luke Townsend and the rest of their team enough.”
“Kiss Me Linda always looks a million dollars and we are constantly informed of how she is travelling in regards to her program.” Hill said.
The sport of greyhound racing in WA is blessed to have the support of some of this state’s most well-known racing personalities and if the current form of Kiss Me Linda can continue there may well be numerous more supporters in the years to come.
“We have already had a few of the other Jockeys and Trainers express their interest in getting involved in the future – why wouldn’t they – as a winning owner you don’t even have to sling the Jockey!” Hill concluded.