Condolences to his son, family and friends - RIP Richard

Richard put the polish on many a good dog but my favourite was the outstanding Hall of Famer - National lass

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IS training stayers that much different to training
sprinters?
It is a question often asked among newer members of
this industry. Many people believe that a stayer will
develop those tendencies without different training
programs. Some believe they must be worked/trained to
the extreme to enable them to have the stamina reserves
behind them to outstay their rivals over a gruelling
700m race.
So to compare the training of sprinters and stayers, we
asked top Sydney trainer Richie Dean, to give us the
perfect example of training differences between sprinters
and stayers.
The example he gives is between his
champion stayer National Lass and her son, the champion
sprinter Little Denver.
FEEDING
Richie Dean has changed little of his feeding from the
time he trained National Lass to win two NSW Greyhound
of the Year titles and most of the major distance events of
her time.
AM
National Lass, a 25.8kg bitch, was always fed a 4x2
biscuit with vegemite on it. This was put into a cup of
milk/water mixture. Added to the fluids was glucose and
Vitamin E.
PM
National Lass was fed between one and a quarter and
one and a half pounds of beef (always the best available)
and eight ounces of kibble. To this was added one cup of
water, Feramo D, calcium, yeast and a cap full of port
wine for the blood. National Lass was fed grated
vegetables only twice a week.
Before racing
National Lass was fed a cup of water/milk mixture just
prior to leaving for the races, only if she was in a late race,
which in her case was usually the feature race of the night
(race eight) in Sydney.
Little Denver, a 30kg dog, was fed exactly the same
diet. However his meat quantity was one and a half
pounds. There was no other change in vitamins etc.
TRAINING
Richie Dean gave the training program for
National Lass when she raced over 720m at Wentworth
Park from one Saturday to the next.
It was:
Saturday
Race
Sunday
Allowed out into a 20ft x 20ft yard three times a day to
do as little as possible. No exercise at all
Monday
The same as Sunday.
Tuesday
National Lass was put onto the Dean straight track,
which is 220 yards long. The bitch was allowed to free
gallop up and down the track as often as she liked which
was generally four to six times up the track or a total of
1300 yards of free galloping.
The bitch was an outstanding free galloper who
would work herself. She loved to run and when she had
had enough, she would come to the gate and wait to be
taken to the 20ft x 20ft yards where she would rest for
another half hour, said Richie.
Wednesday
The same straight work as on Tuesday.
Thursday
The same straight work as on Tuesday and
Wednesday.
Friday
National Lass would be put into the 20ft x 20ft yard
AM for an hour, again at lunch time and in the afternoon.
Saturday
Race at Wentworth Park over 720m.
The training program for Little Denver was virtually
the same but with a few subtle differences in the number
of times and amount of free galloping allowed the dog.
The program for Little Denver racing over 520m at
Wentworth Park on Saturday night to the following
Saturday night was:
Saturday
Race
Sunday
Do nothing
Monday
Do nothing
Tuesday
Allowed onto straight track for about four runs up the
track. Generally Little Denver was called up between
Richie and a helper twice and then encouraged to gallop
up twice more.
We have found that dogs dont like to free gallop as
much as bitches. With Little Denver he had to be called up
the straight initially and then would be allowed to free
gallop back down. He would then be called up again and
finally let gallop back down. He would free gallop
1000m, said Richie.
Wednesday
Do nothing
Thursday
Free gallop four times up the straight track the same as
Tuesday.
Friday
Generally Little Denver was hydro bathed on Friday
morning for his race on Saturday night. He would be put
into a half acre paddock on Deans property and allowed
to sprint around to dry. It was never meant to be hard
exercise but the dog was allowed to gallop as he wished.
Saturday
Race at Wentworth Park.
Neither National Lass nor Little Denver were
exercised in the afternoon. Both were put into the 20ft x
20ft holding yards on the property and allowed to rest for
an hour while the dinners were being made and the
kennels cleaned.
STAYERS
Richie Dean believes stayers are born. No amount of
training will make a speedster run a distance. That must be
commonsense, he said.
Dean will never trial a dog after the initial 14 months
to 17 months education period. He only ever uses a trial
track or racetrack to trial when bringing a dog back from
injury and it needs to be given a solid run for fitness
peaking.
National Lass loved to gallop. While she started out
as a sprinter it was obvious she had the makings of a
stayer right from the moment she started to race. At
breaking in, I had six others being educated at the same
time and she showed me no more ability than the other
six. But once in full training she continued to improve and
improve, he said.
Dean believes there is no age restriction on when
greyhounds should be switched to distance racing.
You will be able to tell from the moment a dog starts
to trial and race if it is going to make a stayer.
"The end of a race is the critical point. National Lass
was always first into the catching pen by a long way even
if she didnt actually win the sprint race.
Dean kept National Lass to sprints until she hit FFA
class before switching distances.
The critical point is that potential stayers must not be
knocked around by continuing to race in sprints. If that
happens they must be put over the distance as soon as
possible.
"It is more harmful to their career to keep them getting
knocked around in sprints than switching to distance
racing at an early age, he said.
National Lass was two years and two months when she
had her first distance race.
Dean is adamant that walking has no place in the
preparation of greyhounds.
I walked dogs for eight years when I first got into the
industry. The only thing it does is wastes your time, wears
out your shoes and walks the pads off your dogs, he said.
It teaches them nothing. It does nothing for them and
the risks of attack by other dogs on the streets, injury etc
are high, he said.
Richie also is against the use of trial tracks after a
greyhounds initial education period.
You can never get an accurate guide as to how a dog
is going from a trial track. I never use them once my dog
is racing constantly. Too many people over-trial their
dogs. If a dog is winning and running time, what benefit is
a trial between races. You cant get it any fitter than it
already is.
National Lass won 40 of her 65 starts. Little Denver
won 17 of his 35 starts and was placed 10 times.
Their ability, consistency and success is a tribute to
Richie Deans training methods.