 | After a performance of a tired and aged dog on Saturday night, the dockerland Racing Syndicate’s Sheriff Austin is finally hanging up the purple muzzle to enter the well earned world of retirement. Unfortunately that elusive final send off win escaped us but he’s done more than enough for the syndicate and now deserves the luxuries and spoils of retirement.
| In an injury plagued career the Sheriff has at times thrilled us and at other times killed us. We’ve seen some scintillating highs and experienced the depths of despair. But out of everything he accomplished we will never forget his amazing win back on 7th May 2005. He was put into the 5th row of the grandstand early and was out of play. Yet somehow he managed to come from the impossible position to get up and win by an eighth of a nose in the last stride. Those who saw Mount Eden’s historic memorable win thought they would never see a bigger run. They were wrong!
Unfortunately one aspect we were devastatingly robbed of was the fact in all his glory when he was up and going well we still never got to witness what Aussie was truly capable of. Coming back from two hock injuries was an incredible achievement when usually one of those injuries can easily be career ending. While a big thanks must go to Linda Britton and Chris Halse for the training, we can not forget the magnificent efforts of Lionel Hodgson who immediately took the Sheriff in every time when injury struck. Lionel provided the care required, he worked his healing magic and each time nursed back to full heath.
Sheriff Austin was the perfect syndicate dog and we were fortunate enough to acquire him through the efforts of the one and only Dazzler Dan Biddle. In a package deal Dan secured us both Sheriff Austin and his very handy brother Showground Larry who also gave us a great deal of fun and enjoyment.
Sheriff’s career spanned over 60 races returning 11 wins, 14 seconds and 9 thirds racking up just short of $30,000. That is a massive effort with almost a 20% winning strike rate and over 50% of the time in the money. He had his first start for the dockerland guys in Queensland on the 7th March 2005 and his final run, almost to the day of two years later, at Canington on the 10th March 2007.
Its been an amazing ride with the Sheriff and one that has given many dockerlanders and first time greyhound owners unforgettable memories. Our only regret is that we never got to win or contest a Western Shootout with him. But as with everything in life, all good things finally have to come to an end. Its now time for the Sheriff to enter the pet program and then spend his many remaining years living a life of leisure in the comfortable surroundings of a Fremantle Docker supporter’s home.
Now if there is anyone out there in dockerland world who is interested in possibly taking the Sheriff into your home and enjoying the superstar’s company for years to come then by all means get in touch with me or the very stunningly spunky hot Kerry Vernon on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The Sheriff will be retrained on the pet program to enter the domestic pet world again. All expenses for the program and any required needles or vaccinations while on the course will be covered by the dockerland Syndicate.
 Greyhound Adoption Program www.greyhoundsaspets.com.au
The Sheriff needs a loving home. Keep in mind you don't have to be a dockerland Syndicate member to take him in. If you’re willing and keen to look after him and give him a good home then as long as you’re a Docker supporter you’re welcome to express interest. The Sheriff does like to watch the Docker games on TV and apart from that your only other requirement is to give us an update on how he is doing from time to time. Give the Sheriff a home - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
So with an enjoyable and successful era coming to an end we now look to the future. The efforts of Sheriff Austin and Showground Larry and the thrill they have both given all of us will never be forgotten. But its now time to move onwards and upwards. In the coming weeks one or two new dockerland Syndicate owned runners could well be unleashed, in more ways than one, on the football loving greyhound attending public. dockerland would like to thank Greyhounds WA for their fantastic support and all the syndicate members who got involved and came along for the ride which ended up being very rewarding. We’ve now welcomed a further 20 dockerlanders to the next era and after several crippling setbacks we can only hope some of the previous success obtained kicks on over the next two years. Stay tuned for more dockerland Syndicate news in the coming weeks.           |