The ‘Wild Boar Racing’ syndicate is a cracking yarn about how unifying the world of greyhound racing can be in bringing people together.
Its manager Corey Smith recently caught up with SEN Track’s Thrill of the Chase team to explain the catalyst behind the syndicate’s formation.
“It’s a real mixed bag,” Smith said. “Quite a few of us from Uni that lived on college together loved the greyhounds. We went to the races all the time and decided to buy one.”
“Then we got family involved, so all up there’s about 12 of us,” he added. “And all over the world as well – there’s a bloke that’s over in Hong Kong at the minute. But it’s a good crew.”
Smith also explained the origins of the syndicate’s name.
“We used to go out to Moonee Valley night races, coming from Bundoora,” Smith said. “We’d catch an Uber and stop at basically the dodgiest bottle shop you could find and get stuck into these Wild Boar cans which were 9% (alcohol volume) and 500ml. (‘Obviously drink responsibly’, he added.)… That’s how the name started.”
And, more recently, the ‘Wild Boar Racing’ juggernaut has taken on another dimension.
WATCH: Eye Catcher (1) clock a sizzling 21.86sec at Warrnambool (390m) on May 14.
“One of the boys was a bit bored at work one day and decided to send an email to the people that run Wild Boar and got a bit of a response back,” Smith said. “They’re making us up some T-shirts (for us). So, it’s good to see they’re getting around us as well.”
So, what’s next for the ‘Wild Boar Racing’ syndicate?
“There’s been a few jokes between the boys that we want to be the Godolphin of greyhound racing,” Smith said. “We’ve won some money and it’s been good, and everything that we’ve earned has gone back into the greyhounds. We’ve bought a few more pups; so hopefully it continues for a fair while yet, but we’ll just see what happens.”
The syndicate has Eye Catcher (pictured above) engaged in the Top Run Images final (400m) at Warragul tonight in Race 9, Box 6 at 9.42pm.
The son of Fabregas x Spicy Peppa finished third to fastest qualifier Fernando Bluey (22.53sec, Best), beaten just 1.25L, last week and syndicate members were quick to snap up the $6 that was initially on offer about his chances.
“We’re relatively confident. He has come back quite well after a bit of a let up and he should run well we think,” Smith said.
Trained at Junction Village by Jessica Hopkins (who is also a member of the syndicate), Eye Catcher has won 11 races from 34 starts and recently clocked a sizzling 21.86sec win at Warrnambool (390m).
LISTEN: Corey Smith, manager of greyhound racing’s Wild Boar Syndicate, caught up with Jason Adams and Sam Hargreaves.
