Miss Slick Wins West Australia’s Top Greyhound Honour
The Max Julien-trained Miss Slick was crowned the Schweppes WA Greyhound of the Year for 2009 at a gala function in Perth last night.
Miss Slick raced 39 times during 2009, recording 10 wins and 11 placings for a total of $216,550 in stakes, plus an additional $43,400 in WESTCHA$E breeder bonuses.
Her most notable performance during the year was her brilliant victory against a strong field in the Group 1 SKY Channel Perth Cup in March when she railed strongly on the home turn to run down the Victorian sprinter Trew Millions.
Her owners Max and Pam Julien collected a total of $165,000 in stakes and bonuses for that victory – the highest ever payout in a local greyhound race.
Miss Slick competed in six feature event finals during 2009 for two wins and three seconds. Her other victory was in the WA Bred Championship, the highest-staked feature final for locally bred greyhounds conducted during the year.
Miss Slick, who hasn't raced since mid December last year, is approaching $400,000 in career stakes, by far the highest amount ever earned by a WA chaser. All her stakes have come from racing locally at Cannington and Mandurah and there is undoubtedly no better advertisement for the WA breeding industry.
Other award winners included the late Dr Peter Thomas BVSc in the Gerry O'Keefe Achievement Award, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the greyhound racing industry over a number of decades.
Linda Britton again collected the Leading Trainer Award after winning the Cannington Trainers' Title for a record 11th time in 2009, surpassing the previous record of ten set by Grant Langston during the late 1980's and early 1990's.
Trainer Ben MacLean was successful in the Youth Achievement Award after training 49 winners in his first full calendar year as a trainer.
Over 200 people attended last night's glittering event held at the Hyatt Regency Perth that was hosted by Channel 9's Bob Harnett.