“It’s a pretty good feat,” said Tony. “I’m so proud of him. “His run to get second at Gawler the previous Wednesday was a pretty good effort. “The club honoured him by naming the race after him on Sunday and there was a presentation after the run. It would have been great if he could have won it.” His effort was super. Filthy Phantom first started racing at Strathalbyn on October 22, 2017.
His first win came at Strathalbyn in a 416m maiden on January 5, 2018. “He just loves racing,” said Tony. “In fact, he doesn’t look like slowing down. “I’ve had the dog from the day of his birth and I know everything about him.
“He will tell me when it is time to call it quits. But, at the moment he is working himself in the runs each day against dogs years younger than him.” Filthy Phantom has two litters of pups now rising eight months.
“They are just like him,” said Tony. “Laid back in temperament but all they want to do is run.”
Tony was upset about “greenies” attacking him on social media about the 300 race start milestone.
“They’ve never said a word about him until he got to 300 starts and now they want to a ‘save the Phantom’ campaign,” said Tony.
He was highly critical of such a “campaign”.
“As I said, I’ve had this dog since day one,” he said. “He’s bullet proof. He will tell me when he’s ready to retire. “I reckon he will get to at least 325 starts the way he is going. “A few months ago I thought he was getting close to retirement when his form slipped a little, but his past four runs have been outstanding.”