Moir’s Bask In Brutus Brilliance
1 March, 2018
Greyhound
One would imagine it would be hard to have a bigger thrill in racing than playing a significant role in the early days of a Melbourne Cup winner’s career, but on Saturday night that was the case at Cannington.
Barry Moir, together with his wife Carol, and colleague David Bow, enjoyed the greatest success in his racing life when Dandalup Brutus took out the Sandi’s Me Mum Memorial Final.
“We virtually bred and broke in a Melbourne Cup winner Black Knight,” he said.
“But this bloke is giving me a lot of excitement…I think he can go all of the way.”
Moir is relatively new to greyhound racing, having started breeding greyhounds a little under a decade ago.
Prior to that, Moir was a prominent figure in the horse racing industry, but after more than 20 years he discovered the ‘Sport of Kings’ was growing at a rate too quick for him to keep up.
“I got started with horses when I was eight years old,” he said.
“I was a successful trainer of horses in Esperance which then brought me to the metropolitan area.”
After winning three premiership titles in Esperance, Moir worked alongside Robert Holmes a Court at Heytesbury Stud for nine years, where he played a key role in the early career of the 1984 Melbourne Cup winner Black Knight.
“The industry got too expensive for me, I could always afford to buy a horse but couldn’t afford to have it trained,” he said.
“I went in to greyhounds just to have another interest and something I could do when I retried.”
Moir owns bitches Rerod Rose, Maltese Player and her sister Misty Peal, all of whom he breeds from now.
Moir’s North Dandalup base is the catalyst for the names of a large majority of his greyhounds, only Cosmic Maltese is racing without the town in its name.
Moir has five dogs racing at the moment, with prominent local trainers including Dandalup Brutus’ trainer Corey White, Kody Charles, Terry Erenshaw and Tania Thomas.
He has also received plenty of help from the state’s leading greyhound trainer David Hobby in establishing himself in the game.
Despite having just five dogs racing at the moment, Moir’s team is about to increase significantly.
“I have got a litter of pups now that are going to the breakers in two weeks out of Misty Peal” he said.
“I’m very excited about them.
“I’ve also got eight pups out of Rerod Rose, they are 10 months old.
“And Rerod Rose’s daughter has just had Artificial Insemination to Fernando Bale three weeks ago, so there is a few coming along.”
After last week’s win in the Sandi’s Me Mum Final, Dandalup Brutus returns to the scene of last week’s triumph this Saturday night for heats of the Lew Dorsa Memorial, as his preparation aimed towards the Perth Cup continues.
A winner at 19 of 55 starts, Dandalup Brutus is engaged in arguably the strongest of the three heats of the Lew Dorsa, which features a winner at The Meadows last week Black Bombshell, as well as progressive chasers Manjoogoordap and West On Augie.
“On Saturday night everything went our way,” Moir said.
“If he jumps well he will always be in the big time because he can muster up speed so quick.
“They will have to work to beat him, but West On Augie is a smart one and if he puts his best foot forward he will be hard to beat.”
Moir said he was likely to keep Dandalup Brutus racing in WA and chasing the bonuses on offer, rather than take him to the east coast.
Dandalup Annie also heads to the races on Saturday night for Moir, where she steps up to the 600m from box eight to put her Galaxy credentials to the test.
“She will be competitive,” Moir said.
“She’s a dog that, on her night, can be competitive against anything.”
An exciting few months looms for the Moir’s, as they continue to their voyage into greyhound racing and breeding.
For all of the highs Barry has experienced in racing, it’s hard to think the best may be yet to come in just over a month from now.
Whether or not Dandalup Annie and Dandalup Brutus feature in the Perth Cup and Galaxy, one thing is for certain, the name Moir is set to become one of the most prominent in greyhound racing in WA.
“I think you have to do it yourself,” Moir said.
“I’ve done it my way.
“With the litters I have on the ground, I think I can be competitive with the best.”
Tim Walker