The all-the-way win of Thunder On in last week’s Greg Martlew Autos Masters Stake (305 metres) at Tara Raceway in the tidy time of 17.72 seconds was a real bonus for Callington owner Brian Sebastyan.

Having his fourth run back after being off the scene for three months due to injury, the manner in which the black dog has returned to racing has surprised even his owner.

“Back in August he sustained a tendon injury and to be honest I did not really think that he would race again,” said Sebastyan, who boasts a long involvement in the sport.

“But I was really pleased with his return to racing after he ran a couple of seconds and a third placing at Murray Bridge and Angle Park before today’s terrific win.”

Thunder On, who is trained by Sebastyan’s sister, Wendy, has now won 28 races and $37,000 in stakemoney.

And his owner still thanks his lucky stars that he just happened to be in the right place at the right time at a November Murray Bridge race meeting two years ago.

“At the time I think he’d raced about nine times and had not won a race.

“So when his previous owner asked me if I wanted him as a giveaway – otherwise he was to be placed in the GAP program – I figured I did not have too much to lose.”

And there’s certainly not much wrong with Thunder On’s breeding.

By Fabregas, he’s out of Springvale Bryne, a winner of 29 races and $121,000 in stakemoney, and a litter sister to Worm Burner.

Meanwhile, Mortlake trainer Peter Crawley and travelling companion Ken Creece, of Heywood, took full advantage of the border reopening when successful with Cryptic Signal and Mick’s Kimmy at the same meeting.

However, their joy was short-lived.

Before nominations had closed for the following week’s meetings the majority of Victorian trainers had once again been shut out due to border restrictions.

While not training greyhounds these days, the charismatic Creece, who certainly enjoys his day at Tara Raceway, had his share of success on Victorian tracks back in the 90s, in particular with Blitzem Bootsy and Iceni Brave.

Blitzem Bootsy, a son of Pop Gun x Leggy Waitress, was a winner of 25 races while his younger half-brother Iceni Brave (by Eaglehawk Star), was a 34-race winner.

Trainer’s successful return after long break
Cape Bridgewater-based Scott Blacksell, another trainer to be hit by border restrictions for much of the year, made a successful return to Tara Raceway last Thursday.

He was back at the Mount Gambier track with Worms Are Biting – the only greyhound he currently has racing – for the first time since February 4 when the son of Worm Burner x Maximum Bella had run second to Chanko Girl.

Lining up from box seven in the Progreyhoundtips.com.au Stake (400 metres), the black dog led all the way to defeat Johnny Deeds by three-quarters of a length in a personal best time of 23.35 seconds.

The win was the first for Worms Are Biting, purchased as a pup from local breeder David Peckham, since February 1 at Warrnambool where he’s done most of his racing this year at the club’s ranked Monday meetings.

But with the dog recently struggling to gain a start at Warrnambool on either a Monday or Thursday, the relaxation of some border restrictions could not have come at a better time as far as Blacksell was concerned.

“He had not been able to gain a start for several weeks so when we were able to get back to Mount Gambier again I figured it made sense to race him over 400 metres rather than trial because he had had plenty of galloping at home.

“He’s a bit hit or miss at the start so I thought if he jumped he would be hard to beat.

“And when he came out running I was pretty confident they would not catch him.”