The 2009 season, by the numbers

IN 2009, Wheeler Kennels bred 347 greyhound pups, from 52 litters by 19 different sires.

Of those, 321 were named and 302 raced. They started 13,014 times and won 2011 races. Their prizemoney tally was a staggering $7,165,214. These facts and figures are a matter of public record.

While they signify a staggering success rate in both numbers to the racetrack and success thereafter, it does not give a true account of just what goes into getting a Bale, Allen or Dyna greyhound onto the track and into the winner's circle.

The success of the 2009-bred greyhounds might be seen by many to be the culmination of the Wheeler family's planned onslaught of greyhound racing in Australia, but it is far from the "factory" approach to this industry it might appear. 2009 was used as an exercise only because all those greyhounds bred in that year have now finished racing. The stats are complete and show overwhelming success, but lows as well.

They include the one pup litter by Braddy-Lexy Bale that did not race, or the litter by Tims Crow-Ambrosia Bale of which one raced but earned just $40.

But the highs include the Collision-Gold Rush Bale litter, headed by champion Dyna Tron, that earned $1,166,209, and the Bartrim Bale-Amelia Bale litter (Bekim, Irma and Heston Bale) that earned $939,158. Eight of the litters bred in 2009 earned more than $200,000. They are stats at which the majority of Aussies, and in fact those throughout the rest of the world, marvel.

BUT, Wheeler Kennels is more than a simple bunch of stats. Much, much more.

A dynasty built on jealousy and hard work

It is a dedicated, hard working, precise enterprise working towards producing a supreme athlete, the type the world was witnessing in the shape of Fernando Bale (Kelsos Fusileer-Chloe Allen), already the winner of a National Derby, Golden Easter Egg, Maturity, Harrison-Dawson and Peter Mosman, all at Group 1 level.

Paul Wheeler says Fernando Bale is the best greyhound to come from Wheeler Kennels. "What he has done even before he turned two years of age is remarkable," said Paul. Paul's wife Jan likes to stick up for the great Xylia Allen, she of the multiple Group 1 wins and eight track records who once was Australia's all-time money winner.

Greyhound racing can be a jealous industry.

Just ask the Wheelers. They feel the brunt of such jealousy all the time. Like when Dyna Tron won the Melbourne Cup with Wheeler bred, reared, educated and owned greyhounds filling the first seven placings. Jealousy rose its ugly head at the time and Paul and Jan still feel the effects of that today.

That Melbourne Cup first to seventh is a feat never achieved in any form of racing, ever. But what very few in the industry have seen is a struggle behind the scenes. When Paul decided more than a decade ago to double, triple and even further increase the size of his breeding program, he had to establish the infrastructure to enable this to happen.

He had seen the huge operations at work in the US and believed he needed to increase to this size. And while that was happening, every last dollar went into building and fencing, not for the Wheelers themselves, but for the ever-expanding number of greyhounds.

From a shed to a $1.2 million home

Jan Wheeler will tell you how her home for eight years was one of the sheds on the 1250-acre property at Murringo. Consider that: living in a shed while every last dollar you earned was spent on dogs. The fact that, four years ago, Paul built a two-story home for he and Jan at a cost of $1.2 million is testament that their hard work in the previous eight years (and a lifetime) has paid off.

He and Jan have since expanded the home to find space for a collection of top of the range motorbikes (a Paul Wheeler passion), as well as further room for the ever-expanding number of trophies.

"It has cost us about $5 to $6 million to establish the property at Murringo," said Paul. "But it is fully funded every year by the dogs themselves.

"We have owned the property for 15 years but it took us 10 years to develop."

Wheeler went to Murringo to expand his enterprise, but also because of the climate. He wanted somewhere he could establish a purpose-built complex with a cooler climate.

"We get down to subzero temperatures in winter but summer is very mild," he said. "I have found over many, many years that greyhounds cope extremely well with cold climate, but not the heat. That's what I wanted here."

Today, that property boasts 70 broodbitches, not all of whom are bred with each time they come on season. They are housed in a massive brick complex. The other side of that complex is where the newest of the pups, weaned at three weeks and growing to 12 weeks, are kept in centrally heated kennels.

3000 acres, a Wentworth Park replica, and $26,000 a week

These are then moved to the massive holding yards, each 40m wide by 100m long (between four and six pups are held in these yards), opening onto five, 10 and 20-acre galloping paddocks where they get access for two hours each day. As the pups get older, they are moved up to access the much bigger galloping paddocks. At 14 months they are then moved into the breaking-in kennels. There are 120 of these and most are full.

Breaking in is done first up a 300m straight track and then on a replica of the Wentworth Park racetrack.

At 18 months, Wheeler himself loads each block of 20 pups into a 12-berth truck and an 18-berth trailer, both air conditioned, for the trip to the trainers of choice in Victoria.

Wheeler Kennels costs $26,000 per week to run.

Paul estimates each pup costs around $5000 to $6000 by the time it arrives at the kennels of whoever is to train it. Wheeler Kennels is not Paul Wheeler making some remarkable pedigree designs, it is not the care and attention of broodbitches and their whelping, it is not the rearing that produces the ultimate athlete, and it is not the precise, meticulous education program that is undertaken. It is a combination of them all. The success comes from the complete package of all these things. While the initial land purchase at Murringo was 1250 acres, that has grown to 3000 acres.

"Whenever neighbouring land became available I let it be known I was in the market to buy," said Paul. "We now have 3000 acres and the greyhound complex is based on 350 acres in the middle. We lease out the surrounding paddocks to neighbours who run cattle and sheep."

Paul and Jan's son Brendan and his family are an integral part of the operation. Brendan has a 100-acre property of his own on the complex.

There are 12 full-time workers helping the Wheelers produce Bale, Dyna and Allen champions.