The late Neville Vincent may never have trained a champion but son Steve has spoken proudly of his father’s “uncanny knack” of always having a good one in the kennel.
“Dad never had a champion or a Group winner but he always had a good dog. Always,” said Steve.
“At Dad’s funeral and wake there were a lot of greyhound stories told. There was a big turn-out of past and present greyhound racing royalty – the Daillys, Paul Bartolo, his son Ray and Chris Stanton.
“Jimmy Fowler was probably his closest friend in greyhounds. He also had a lot to do with Jimmy and Maureen Turner and Kev Ward. Dad always acknowledged Rose Booth as being the catalyst for his involvement in greyhound racing.”
As is so often the case, Neville, who lived at Lal Lal, near Ballarat, and recently passed away at 70 years of age, shared his greyhound racing passion with wife Sandy, daughter Michelle, who was extremely involved, son Steve and Steve’s children Zac and Bella.
“It was a real family thing,” Steve said.
“During my youth I lived at greyhound tracks. I was obsessed with greyhound racing and I wouldn’t change a thing. I don’t think I’d have a mate that hasn’t had shares in a dog.
“When I was younger I remember getting woken up at 6am every Sunday to go trialling at Geelong, hungover after getting home at 3am. It was shocking!
“The last dog Dad had, called O’Sullivan, was probably one of the fastest he ever had but he had heaps of trouble with him.
“He ran 29.19sec at Sandown but after trialling there in 29.24s late last year he ended up at the vet and didn’t make it.
“Dad gave me and my two kids a 10 per cent share in O’Sullivan, so it was extra special.”
Steve fondly recalls spending countless hours with Neville discussing the best and fastest dogs his father trained over the years, rating Oodles Rocks, a six-time Group finalist, and Exclusion, which won 33 races, as two of the best.