Fortified Launches Lofty Thunderbolt Bid In Style

THE hunt for the country's premier speed event, Grafton's The Thunderbolt, has already begun.

Wagga-based Jonathon Crocker, training for just 12 months, produced Fortified (Pindari Express-Banjo Tifia) to brilliantly win a 350m at Grafton on Tuesday night in a slick 20.02.

"The trip, all 15 hours of it from Wagga, was based entirely on giving her an early look at the Grafton track with The Thunderbolt the eventual aim," said Crocker today.

The semi-finals of The Thunderbolt will be run at Grafton on June 15 with the $40,000-to-the-winner final on June 21.

The series starts on regional tracks throughout NSW.

Crocker bought Fortified, answering an advert for her sale for $15,000 from breeder Chris O'Brien.

In eight starts for Crocker since the purchase, she has won six and been placed in the other, the past four in a row.

"I've bought her to race, but specifically to breed with but not until she has had a racing career for us for the next 12 to 18 months," he said.

Crocker and his brothers dabbled in greyhound ownership 20 years ago but drifted away with work and family commitments.

"Three years ago, I bought a dog and got Shannon Ellis to train it for me," he said.

"Then a year ago I decided to train myself."

He now has six in training and five pups coming along.

Wife Linda and their three teenage daughters are an integral part of the training.

"The girls stayed home to look after the dogs in the kennel," he added.

Crocker works for the NSW Government in transport and admits the busy job means quite a bit of travel, which means his family steps up to help with the dogs.

"Shannon Ellis was very good when I decided to start training, giving me lots of advice, and everyone is happy to do the same," he said of the learning curve of training greyhounds.

He was happy with the way Fortified handled Grafton at her first look at the track and said there was "much more in the tank".