Foley hoping Jackey Moon takes a liking to Wentworth Park
Hunter Valley greyhound racing stalwart Anne Foley epitomises what every trainer should aspire to be: a passionate, kind, and enthusiastic role-model for the next generation.
Born into the industry and having put the collar and lead on her first chaser as a trainer back in 1983, Anne, along with her husband Barry, has lived the dream fulfilling her passion for training greyhounds.
At present, she has two very handy chasers in her kennels. Nice Ebby is a winner of two from four starts for Foley, including an impressive second place in her debut over the 715m at The Gardens last Friday afternoon, and Jackey Moon is a promising middle-distance performer who has just stepped up to the staying distance.
“Nice Ebby was a giveaway from Michael Eberand, and he offered her to me to train,” Foley said.
“We do like Aussie Infrared as a sire and I was particularly impressed that she was out of the bitch Zipping Kelly, who was trained by Peter Lagogiane and owned by Dawn Garrett, and it was the strength of the line that made me keen to take her.
“We're just going to take it step-by-step, as she's only two and a half years old.
“The 715 at The Gardens is a start to see if she measures up to the mark.”
Perhaps her most renowned chaser at present is Jackey Moon, who has gained quite the cult following after a memorable victory on final night of The 715. The son of Collision and Schnapskey, owned by Foley's close friends Kelvin Lean and Lindsay Davis, won a 600m event, with his trainer overcome by emotion post-race as she was interviewed in front of a packed Newcastle Greyhounds track on a large television screen.
“I felt very overwhelmed and excited that night,” Foley said.
“You've got your heart in your mouth, wondering if you've done enough to get them there and wondering you've done enough to get them there and if he was going to handle it all.
“The crowd that night was absolutely amazing and loud and lots of big screens everywhere, but he handled it well.
“He hasn't quite taken to Wentworth Park as we would've liked, but some dogs just take a few runs to adapt to a track and he's on his way back from a short let-up and we'll eventually take him back to Wentworth Park for a 720m and see if he handles it better.
“Even though he's not a young dog anymore, he's still learning the caper, especially the staying caper.
“The 600 he seems to have nailed that, but the 720m is a whole new kettle of fish and we're just hoping that he might take a liking to Wentworth Park, but if not, we'll just seek races at The Gardens, Grafton and those sorts of places.
“We're very grateful to Lindsay Davis and Kel Lean in trusting the dog to us.”
“He's a bit of a cult hero because of his name and I didn't know anything about his name, but apparently Jackey Moon is a movie star.”
Lean and Davis have been friends with Anne and her husband for several years now, with the Foleys always training one or two of their dogs.
“We had one of their chasers break down and went home, Lindsay asked if we'd like to take another one home and replace her,” Foley said.
“I'd actually handled Jackey Moon in a trial at Gosford in his early days and took a bit of a liking to him and asked her if that's the one I could take home.”
While Foley likens the task of choosing her favourite greyhound to choosing your favourite child, she explained the soft spot she has for a very talented chaser previously in her kennels by the name of Dusty Valley.
“We brought Dusty Valley as a 9-month-old pup at a bargain basement price, and we had a lot of thrills with him,” she said.
“He was a handy stayer, and we took on the best with him a couple of times and he ran third in the big cup in Sydney.
“We had him at our home until he passed away and he only passed away last year, at the age of 12.”
One familiar, smiling face watching Foley's dogs is young Zac Shoesmith, who Anne has known since he was just 18 months of age. Having obtained his handler's licence at age 15, he's a regular racegoer, smiling and enjoying every moment he spends with the greyhounds.
“From the time he could speak, it's always been about the greyhounds,” Foley said.
“When he was 9 and 10, he would constantly ask how many years it was until he got his licence and the day he turned 15 he got his licence.
“Zac is a haemophiliac and unfortunately can't play sport, so greyhounds are his sport.
“He's enjoying being involved with them now that he can help us and is there for us, it's been a great friendship with his family.
“I think he gets as excited as we do after catching a winner, he just loves it and is happy to help anybody who needs a catcher.”
In her time as a trainer, Foley touched on the astronomical changes from a welfare perspective that have been made since she first gained her licence.
“The welfare aspect has improved enormously,” she said.
“There's a lot more care with greyhounds now, especially with the quality vet attention that we can access.”
As for the race she's always wanted to win, that was an easy answer: the time-honoured Ladies Bracelet.
“I was at Harold Park with friends the night a bitch called Size Seven won the Ladies Bracelet and I saw her magnificent bracelet that night and it has just stuck with me,” Foley said.
“I know it's not worth the money of some of the other bigger races, but to win that race would just be the bees' knees for me.”