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Little did they know at the time, but in 1979 when Dave and Christine Robartson opted to manage the Kiosk at the newly opened Kanyana Park Greyhound Track in Mandurah it was to be a life changing decision and the start of a decorated career in the sport of greyhound racing.
The husband and wife duo soon after decided to juggle the Kitchen duties with the greyhound training caper and traded the hot dogs from the kiosk to the hot dogs on the track.
By the mid 1980’s Christine was training WA feature race winners – it was the beginning of an incredibly successful 4 decade period where Dave and Christine would go on to be two of the most highly respected Breeders, Owners and Trainers in Australian Greyhound Racing.
At different times Dave and Christine have traded the head training duties but regardless of who has had the title next to their name the results have spoken for themselves with their combined winning strike rate just shy of 25% speaking volumes of their ability to get the best out of their dogs.
Throughout their time in the sport Dave and Christine have been associated with some absolute stars of WA and Australian chasing including the likes of High Earner, Wit’s End, Miss Hot Gossip, Abilene, Roxy Reason, Hinto and Throttle.
Christine didn’t take long to announce herself as a top line Trainer taking out WA’s premier staying event the Galaxy in 1986 with Abilene. Abilene went on to become a three time Group race winner with success in the 1987 Group 3 Birthday Cup and 1988 Group 3 Stayers Challenge.
Throughout the mid 1990’s Dave and Christine raced Wit’s End with their great friends Nick and Lisa Minutillo. The black son of Denver and Stone Free took all before him in 1995 when he was crowned the WA Greyhound of the Year. He went on a feature race frenzy taking out the Mandurah Derby, the WA Sprint Championship, the Spring Gift and the Group 1 Galaxy. Wit’s End was recently ranked in the top 5 WA stayers in the 50 year history of WA Chasing and is one of the most versatile chasers seen in this state.
In 1999 Dave trained Roxy Reason to success in the Group 2 WA Oaks. While she was an outstanding talent on the track it was the work she did as a brood bitch that set up the Robartson’s for sustained success over the next part of their journey. The Roxy Reason line produced multiple generations of winners including Beyond The Call, High Earner, Miss Hot Gossip and Yikes.
The Robartson’s relocated to Queensland for a decade in the early 2000’s and the production line of winner’s continued with multiple group and feature race victories – through that period Christine was the Ipswich Greyhound Racing Club’s Owner of the year in 2009 and the Brisbane Greyhound Racing Club’s Owner of the year in 2010.
The crowning moment of Dave and Christine’s time in the sport however came with the arrival of the dog they bred, owned and trained High Earner. The well named son of Collision and Double Guess (a daughter of Roxy Reason) went on to become the highest stake earner in the country in 2011 when he retired with more than $600,000 in prizemoney, taking that mantle from the legendary Rapid Journey who had held the benchmark for more than 12 years. He won a multitude of Group races around Australia and was one of the most professional chasers of the decade.
High Earner had 69 starts for 33 wins and 21 placings and is the only greyhound to win back to back Perth Cups, in 2010, when trained by Christine, and in 2011, when trained by Kel Greenough (but still in the ownership of Dave and Christine). (Liam/Sky should have replays of both Perth Cups)
In recent times Throttle and Hinto have flown the flag for the kennel in the feature race scene with very good success.
Dave and Christine along with their daughter Jodee have played an active role in helping to promote the sport regularly opening up their kennels to first time owners, answering their questions and showcasing the quality of life their greyhounds live. They have always been happy to give back to the sport that has been so good to them.
In partnership Dave and Christine have trained more than 61 feature race winners and owned and bred some of the best chasers the sport has ever seen – we welcome Dave and Christine Robartson in to the WA Racing Hall of Fame.