The late and great greyhound owner and breeder Paul Wheeler of Murringo has been honoured with a Group One feature race being named in his honour. Photo: GRNSW.
A considerable honour has been conferred on one of Young’s own – world-class greyhound racing owner and breeder, the late Paul Wheeler.
The NSW Greyhound Breeders, Owners and Trainers’ Association (GBOTA) announced today (31 July) the Group One Paws of Thunder feature race would be renamed in honour of Mr Wheeler, who was based at Murringo, west of Young.
Long considered an icon of the sport and lauded as the most successful owner/breeder Australia, if not the world, had ever seen, Mr Wheeler died suddenly in 2021, aged 66.
He was considered as one of the industry’s innovators and acknowledged as a champion in the development and the professionalisation of greyhound racing in NSW and Australia.
When Paul Wheeler was inducted into the Australian Greyhound Racing Association’s Hall Of Fame in 2016, he followed his late father Allen Wheeler, a previous inductee, to become the first and still only father and son to be awarded the honour.
Allen Wheeler may have established a successful breeding line in the 1970s and 80s but son Paul, through ingenious mating of suitable bitches with the correctly matched stud dogs, enhanced the family’s greyhound dynasty.
After his father’s death Mr Wheeler established a state-of-the-art breeding and rearing facility on 1200 hectares at Murringo where he bred and raised up to 550 greyhounds at a time.
For those who follow greyhound racing, this was the man behind the famous ‘Bale’, ‘Dyna’ and ‘Allen’ bloodlines, which produced countless champions over several generations.
Names such as Lansley Bale, Suellen Bale and Kantarn Bale dominated races, followed by superstars including the incredible Xylia Allen and million-dollar trio Fernando Bale, Dyna Double One and Fanta Bale.
Allen Wheeler’s Steelflex remains the only greyhound to win the National Derby twice, in 1974 and 1975, while he bred and raced Winifred Bale, named NSW Greyhound of the Year in 1982 and 1983.
The list of achievements of Paul Wheeler’s greyhounds is endless, but his crowning glory was breeding and owning four Melbourne Cup winners: Kantarn Bale (1999), Dyna Tron (2011), Dyna Villa (2014) and Dyna Double One (2015).
Paul Wheeler’s remarkable effort to breed (and own) the first seven placegetters in the 2011 Melbourne Cup at Sandown, won by Dyna Tron, was an industry showstopper. Photo: GRNSW.
According to Greyhound Racing Victoria, his remarkable effort to breed (and own) the first seven placegetters in the 2011 Melbourne Cup at Sandown, won by Dyna Tron, was one industry pundits say was a capstone industry achievement.
Paul Wheeler’s influence on the sport can be gauged by the list of Australia’s highest prizemoney earners, with three of his stock topping $1 million in stakes.
Fanta Bale earned $1,366,175 while Fernando Bale, arguably the greatest sprinter of all time, retired after winning $1.3m, with Dyna Double One amassing $1.16m.
Wheeler’s Xylia Allen, with $744,000 and Dyna Villa at $723,000 are also in Australia’s top dozen earners on the track.
Fernando Bale, who won 35 of 44 starts, won 11 group finals, eight of them Group Ones, and is now Australia’s leading sire, closely followed by Barcia Bale, another to emerge from the Wheeler breeding nursery.
Mr Wheeler’s career spanned more than half a century. In 2016, he was inducted into the Australian Greyhound Racing Hall of Fame.
But he was also a man who had time for everyone.
Group One winning owner Chris Nutt once said, “If it wasn’t for Paul Wheeler, I wouldn’t be involved with greyhounds.
“He had time for everyone, battlers included.
“As a teenager I was a forklift driver and worked near The Oaks, where Paul Wheeler had his original training and breeding establishment.
“I could turn right off the main road to go to work or left to head to Paul Wheeler’s and there were plenty of times I called in sick and went instead to help Paul with his dogs and learn about greyhounds.”
After consultation with the Wheeler Family, the Paws of Thunder, one of the most revered races in the state will be renamed The Paul Wheeler Simply the Best.
GBOTA CEO Daniel Weizman made the formal announcement in Sydney this week.
“This is a fitting tribute to one of the industry’s great innovators,” Mr Weizman said. “The GBOTA is proud to recognise the contribution of Paul Wheeler and the renaming of the Paws of Thunder is a lasting tribute and acknowledgement of the legacy of one of the greats in the greyhound racing industry.”
Mr Weizman said Paul Wheeler was a straight shooter – who was vocal in criticising decisions with which he disagreed, but also open to praising them when he saw their merit.
“Paul was at the forefront of the fight to save the industry when then premier Mike Baird tried to ban greyhound racing in NSW,” he said. “Being part of the campaign to save the greyhound industry is one of his crowning achievements.”
The Paul Wheeler Simply the Best will be a Group One race and will feature many of the top sprinters in Australia.
The GBOTA is also announcing that the event will have a new home on the racing calendar, moving from late January to now be run in December.
The Paul Wheeler Simply the Best will take place on 21 December at Wentworth Park with the heats contested the previous week on 14 December.
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