For Annette Kampman, Kerry Hawker and Elysia Bartholomew, all regularly involved at Mount Gambier’s greyhound racing meetings, the past week or so turned out to be particularly successful.

Kampman, who makes the two-hour trip across from the small Victorian rural town of Purdeet, book-ended last Thursday’s time-graded meeting with littermates Myola Queen and Myola Red Boy and took her number of wins at the local track this year to 18.

Myola Red Boy (Lightning Frank x Pocket Queen) is now set for another stint of coursing after earlier this season having been runner-up in two stakes at Longwood.

Last week, Kampman had been delighted with Jaggered after the son of Jagger Swagger and Glitterbug stormed home in the Winning Post Supplies Stake (400 m) to defeat Hawker’s Our Bro Paddy by a nose in a tidy 23.03 seconds.

Her involvement in greyhound racing originates from a time back in the early 1990s when she and her husband Colin one night travelled to Olympic Park in Melbourne to watch a relative’s greyhound race.

“The dog’s name was Barwidgee Bill and it turned out he was pretty smart,” she said.

“Anyway, we were really taken with the night and it was not long before we found ourselves rearing a litter.

“I still remember that litter.

“It was by Brother Black out of Miss Vidante and had been bred by John Peach.

We ended up with one of the pups and named her Kampy Capers.

“Then, in December 1994, she became our first winner when successful at Warrnambool.”

Kerry Hawker picked up her second Juvenile race with Kerry’s Cadillac who led all the way in the last week’s Commercial Hotel Stake (305 m) to defeat kennelmate Little Cadillac in 17.71 seconds.

And last Thursday, Nero Valentino’s two length win over Bungaloo Anne in 23.26 seconds in the Todd’s Photographics Stake (400 m) took her total number of wins this year at Tara Raceway to 12.

But it was back in the Glenburnie days that Hawker first became involved in greyhound racing.

That was when she worked as a steward alongside her uncle Alec Steele, the inaugural chairman of the South East Greyhound Racing Club.

Another steward of the day was Michael Robinson and some years later Hawker and Robinson were reacquainted when she was looking to become involved in the ownership of a greyhound.

“A greyhound called Gentle Moment, who I raced with Michael, was the start of it all for me,” she said.

“He won seven races at Tara raceway in 2016.

“So far, my best dog has been Banjo Queen who won 12 races at Mount Gambier and Angle Park before being mated with My Bro Fabio.

“One of her offspring, which I also train, is Our Bro Paddy who has now won seven races.”

These days, Hawker is one of the driving forces (excuse the pun) behind the Edenhope-based Cadillac Racing which she runs in partnership with Cap Abbott.

“All told, we have something like 55 greyhounds on the property with 13 of those currently racing – or about to,” she said.

“This year we have produced 33 Mount Gambier winners with our predominantly young stock.”

Elysia Bartholomew came close to being born on the day the first South East greyhound racing meeting was conducted at Glenburnie on Saturday, July 21, 1979.

Actually it was five minutes into the next day but let’s not split hairs.

The fact remains, as the daughter of Steve and Lee Bartholomew she’s been involved with greyhounds ever since.

She raced Dusty Pearl – heat and final winner of the 2018 John Reid Memorial Maiden (512 m) at her first two starts – in partnership with her parents who also bred the Dyna Tron x Azumi Touch litter.

The light fawn bitch then went on to win a further six races before being mated with Elite State.

Later, Elysia Bartholomew opted for a fawn dog, now racing as Unique Pearl, from the subsequent litter of six.

“He certainly was not the pick of the litter,” she said.

“If anything, he was the ugly duckling but in the end he grew into a nice-looking 32 kilogram dog which I decided to train for Mum, Dad and myself.

“His breaking-in report had been good and he had trialled well leading into last week’s first start over 305 metres.

“The only thing I had been a bit worried about had been box eight.”

There had never been any cause for concern, though.

Elysia Bartholomew landed her first winner as a trainer after Unique Pearl quickly found the front in the Rocks Tavern Maiden Stake before running out a 3¼ length winner in 17.74 seconds.