David Brasch recently got to visit the Paul Wheeler empire at Murringo, near Young, and produced the first of his reports on what he found for Chase Magazine's September edition. In this edition, he looks at the broodbitch empire that is the basis of Wheeler Kennels.

The bitch nobody wanted

Paul Wheeler, now 60, remembers it like it was yesterday.

His uncle Bruce turned up on his father Allen's doorstep with an offer he could not refuse, even though Allen did his best to do just that.

"My uncle Bruce offered dad a broodbitch called Gail's Beauty but dad didn't want her," said Paul of the mid-1960s happening.

Bruce Wheeler had said the bitch's owner, a Sydney butcher, had sold his business and was moving. He could not take Gail's Beauty with him. If Allen Wheeler did not take her, the fate of Gail's Beauty was hugely uncertain.

Allen relented, took the bitch and started what is today the world's most powerful greyhound empire, one that produces the winners of upwards of $7 million in prizemoney each year, and that is on the rise.

Gail's Beauty (Hot Top-Secret Beauty), according to Paul Wheeler, had ability as a race dog but he says inconsistency in her racing and training stopped her showing it.

"Her kennel name was Lady," said Paul of Gail's Beauty. "She was built like a bulldog and had a dark brindle patch on one ear."

Her pedigree shows 2x2 in-breeding to Top Linen (Fine Linen-Brenda Gay) and his half sister Tassin (Apeeka-Brenda Gay). Interestingly, Gail's Beauty was white and brindle, the same colour as her famous third mother Brenda Gay.

Gail's Beauty became an instant broodbitch sensation for the Wheelers. Today's champion sprinter Fernando Bale (Kelsos Fusileer-Chloe Allen), winner of six Group 1s, has Gail's Beauty as his ninth dam.

While the Wheeler family does have another dominant female family, tracing to Glendale Lady (Dream's Image-Lady Rockaway) who was owned by Bruce Wheeler, her granddaughter Namor Star is also bred on the very same in-breeding to Brenda Gay as Gail's Beauty.

Barcia Bale is from the Namor Star/Glendale Lady damline.

The first truly great greyhound bred by Allen Wheeler was dual NSW greyhound of the year, champion sprinter Winifred Bale (Temlee-Emiline Bale). Gail's Beauty was her third mother. Amazingly, her sire Temlee was also hugely in-bred to Top Linen and his litter sister Brenda's Daughter, thus being bred on the same successful cross found in Gail's Beauty (and exactly the cross found in Namor Star).

Two teams of 70

Today at Wheeler Kennels, there are 70 broodbitches waiting their turn to produce the next Fernando Bale or Dyna Villa or Dyna Tron or Dyna Double One or Xylia Allen.

"We have two distinct groups of broodbitches," said Paul Wheeler. "Those that are bred with most times and those who are given their chance but not every time they come into season.

"We will breed with between 35 and 40 of them a year. But we pass up two of every three to come on season."

Wheeler said Team 1 of the broodbitches is those proven broodbitches, or the really top class bitches just coming off the racetrack.

Team 2 is the broodbitch who has already had a couple of litters and Wheeler is waiting on the progeny of the bitch in question to prove themselves on the racetrack.

Not every quality race bitch will get her chance at Wheeler Kennels.

"We physically can't breed with every race bitch coming off the track," said Paul. "So we make a judgment on those we have based on their race ability and just how many we can cater for on the property."

Bargains are there to be had. Take for instance Everlong Bale, who was sold by Wheeler after a successful career in South Australia. Put to Collision she produced champion Buckle Up Wes, he of Topgun and Australian Cup success.

Wheeler does not breed with a bitch the moment she comes into season.

"We like to give them a spell when they come home from the racetrack," he said. "Several months off generally does them and we even like to give them a season first before mating them.

"Xylia Allen has been home six months and she has already had a season without being mated."

Fixing faults, not just pairing champions

Paul does all his own pedigree design. He spends hours looking over possible mates but generally likes to match type with type and also fix characteristics he feels a bitch may be lacking.

He explained his thoughts on Xylia Allen.

"She has two faults," said Paul. "She is a very big bitch and was a stayer. She is also in-bred to Head Honcho.

"My plan for her is to put her to a very fast race dog who is not very big. The ideal is Fernando Bale and that is the way she will be mated."

Wheeler is a strong advocate against some of the new breeding rules put into place by many of the authorities running greyhound racing in Australia.

"Bitches can have only two litters within 18 months and by the time they get to eight years old they need to be assessed to see if I can breed with them again," he said.

"So, does this mean one of our high class producing broodbitches can be replaced in the breeding world by a Tier 3 quality race bitch who has never had a litter.

"It is my belief the authorities want to encourage mediocrity."

A full-time staff of women, and a vet in Adelaide

At Wheeler Kennels, the 70 broodbitches are the domain of Paul's wife Jan, who has a full-time staff of five women helping her with their care and attention. That includes the daily supervision of the bitches, their whelping of litters and the care of their puppies up to 12 weeks of age, when they are then shifted to the much bigger rearing yards.

The broodbitches are housed in a massive kennel block, split into smaller kennel areas of six which house the prize bloodlines waiting to produce the next Wheeler champion.

Each bitch is let out into an undercover, cement-based empty yard. They are then put into a two-acre galloping paddock for exercise every day.

Jan Wheeler and her staff (Kylie, Karen, Jessica, Faye) supervise every aspect of this each day. Every broodbitch, even those about to whelp, are given their time in this exercise paddock twice a day.

"Bitches are exercised in this paddock right up to the day they are due to whelp," said Jan.

Every single broodbitch that comes on season and is due to be mated will be transported to the vet clinic of John Katakasi in South Australia for insemination.

"All our matings are by frozen insemination," said Paul. "The bitches are transported by GTE to Adelaide.

"We shuffled around to a few vets over the years and have since settled on John Katakasi in Adelaide. We are happy to pay to send all our bitches to John to be inseminated and then brought back home.

"Yes, it costs a few bob, but that 1000 mile trip to South Australia and back is worth it for us to make sure those bitches are in pup."

He says the majority of his bitches have no problems being surgically inseminated every time they are mated, or getting them in pup again in later litters.

Raspberry leaf and a correlation Wheeler can't fully explain

He has a few tricks up his sleeve to make sure they deliver first class pups.

"Raspberry leaf tablets," he said. "We've been using them for years. Raspberry leaf is a herb which strengthens the uterus and it makes for a better birth."

Every broodbitch starts on 1500mg a day by the time they are half way through their pregnancy.

Those broodbitches are huge. Jan Wheeler says they are deliberately kept big to allow them to cope with the demands of birth and nurturing their puppies for the three weeks before they are weaned. (Yes, puppies are virtually weaned at three weeks at Wheeler Kennels.)

The bitches about to whelp are brought into the whelping boxes a short time before they are due. There are eight whelping boxes at Wheeler Kennels, housed in the one area, with under-floor heating and central heating for the broodbitch and her resultant pups. There is always food available, a stew in the morning and raw meat in the afternoon.

Paul Wheeler says with all the litters he and his family have bred, he has noticed there is a recipe for success.

"We have noticed that there is a correlation," he said. "Good mothers produce good pups. If we have a mother that is so good at nurturing her puppies which means we do not have to feed the pups at all, they always seem to turn out good race dogs.

"Obviously, we can't say this is correct 100 percent of the time but it is something that has become obvious to us over time."

Maple Bale: the broodbitch who never raced

Broodbitches generally earn their place at Wheeler Kennels with their deeds on the racetrack. But there are exceptions to every rule.

"Of course in any form of breeding you can't go with 100 percent certainty that one way is the right way," said Paul. He cites Maple Bale (Spiral Nikita-Vista Bale) as the prime example.

"She never raced," said Paul. "But we sent her to the Daillys to train and she was going terrific, trialling the best of her litter, before she smashed a leg in an accident."

The leg was removed and Maple Bale was brought back to Wheeler Kennels.

"I waited to see how her littermates turned out before making a decision on using her at stud," said Paul. "Her litter brother was Buttsie Bale and he was top class."

Maple Bale has since become the dam of such Group 1 stars as Lamia Bale, Kerrigan Bale, Dyna Nico, the great Zambola Bale (dam of Group 1 winner Ollie Bale), Erica Allen and more.

Paul Wheeler admits that every time he designs a mating his primary goal is to produce a future broodbitch. "If I get a top class male from that mating, then that is a bonus," he said.

This is what he did when putting Dyna Beauty to Bartrim Bale. The mating brought in the half sisters Gold Rush Bale and Dyna Beauty 2x1 into the resultant pedigree. He got Topgun winner David Bale, who was also a finalist in the Australian Cup and is now a promising sire in Ireland. But he also got a high class race bitch called Bala Bale who, since going to stud, has produced Dawkins Bale (by Turanza Bale), the runner-up to Fernando Bale in the Golden Easter Egg.

Wheeler says he believes "in the majority of cases" the pups will get their best attributes from the female. But he says the best of pedigrees can fail.

"I believe the genetics of a pedigree is 35 percent of its success," he said. "The rest is the rearing, education and training."