Rookie Trainer Signals His Sandown Cup Intentions

DESPITE growing up around greyhounds, Tom O'Neill never imagined he'd be training a finalist in one of the country's premier staying races.

Yet that's exactly where the 20-year-old from Pearcedale will find himself this Friday night when Henry Intention takes his place in the highly coveted Group 1 Sandown Cup Final.

Son of Todd O'Neill, a well-known figure in the sport, Tom said that a career in greyhound racing wasn't always his ambition.

"Not really," he said when asked if he always planned on being a trainer.

"I didn't think I was going to be a greyhound trainer, it was more of a hobby. I helped out on the weekends, and then after mum passed away I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I didn't want to go to University and I was a bit unsure for a while there.

"So Dad said, ‘come and help with the dogs for a bit and help me, and see if you can work out what you want to do.'

"Once I started working with the dogs my interest grew and I started watching a lot of race meetings, and learning lots of things and started to really like it, then I fell in love with it."  

Henry Intention qualified for Friday night's $220,000 finale when flying home from last to run second in his heat behind Mepunga Surprise. It was his first run over the ‘half-mile' since resuming from an injury enforced break in January.

While the son of Aussie Infrared boasts a modest record of eight wins from 41 career starts, seven of his wins have come at city level, and each of those wins have come over 595m or further.

"He's always been a good dog," O'Neill said.

"He went through his grades pretty well and kept winning a few city races and was going good.

"But he has had a few bad falls and then we had a bit of time off after injury. We kept him over 600m in preparation for the Sandown Cup, just to get him real fit and happy and feeling good so that once he went to 700m, he hopefully would push a bit better — and yeah, we were lucky enough that he did good and made it, so it worked out."

Henry Intention is rated one of the outsiders of the field after drawing box four, however O'Neill is still hopeful about his chances, though he admits he would have preferred an inside draw.

"I don't think it's too bad. I would have preferred more inside — one, two or three," he said.

"But the four's not too bad. I hope he can just jump alright and get to the rail early, because he loves to get to the fence.

"If he could find himself in a nice second or third position after the bend, that would be nice. I think he'd be a good chance, and he'll be coming home strong."

As for what comes after the Sandown Cup, O'Neill already has his sights set on the next target, and is optimistic about the pups he has coming through.

"We'll probably go to the Pink Diamond at Geelong with him,” he added.

"We've got a few others trialling at the moment, going alright too, so it's all looking good."