By MICHAEL FLOYD
Bells Are Ringin caused one of the biggest upsets in group racing history when she defeated the country’s best stayers in the RSN927 Sandown Cup on Thursday night.
Sent to the boxes, the 50/1 outsider began well to cross to the rail and lead the field through the first turn. From there she was never headed, finding the line two lengths clear of Who Dey in 42.02.
For trainer Gerry O’Keeffe – just two years returned from a 28-year absence from the sport – the win was the thrill of a lifetime.
“I thought ‘goodness me, I’m going to run a place here!’ She’s always been clean winded but she had been run down a few times when she first started over the distance.
“To hold off those good dogs, what a thrill,” he said.
Finishing up after 35 years as a prosecutor for the Department of Agriculture, O’Keeffe and long-time friend Kelvin Jones decided to get back into the sport by training five greyhounds from his 10 acre Neerim Junction property.
At that time, his son in-law Glenn Pask had bred and reared a litter of pups and was looking for a trainer.
Among those pups was the runt of the litter, Bells Are Ringin.
“This little dog was so sick for the first four months that she couldn’t be sold – she looked like a guinea pig with a rat tail.
“She’s only tiny – 24 and a half kilograms – of which 23 would be heart.”
It was a popular victory, with no shortage of well wishes for the affable 63-year-old.
“I really am living the dream,” he said. “Kelvin is a co-trainer and integral part of the team.
“We have vigorous discussion about different ways of doing things but we always work out a consensus and so without Kelvin I couldn’t be doing any of this.”
The RSN927 Sandown Cup was Bells Are Ringin’s 16th victory from 39 starts, and the $175,000 winner’s cheque catapulted her winnings beyond $259,000. The group 1 Gold Cup at Albion Park next Thursday night will be her next assignment.
