Waikarie Bell queen of the Kleinhans kennel

By Isaac Murphy

A fortnight ago, Waikarie Bell had never won over the 700 metres, however tomorrow night Karen Kleinhans’ stayer will shoot for a hat-trick of wins over the distance.

The bitch is living proof that with love, care and work ethic there’s still plenty of room in the staying ranks for a chaser that doesn’t mind spotting the frontrunners a start.

Kleinhans has only been in the training ranks for 12 months, spending the best part of two decades rearing and whelping pups for husband and trainer Lester.

She decided the time was right to throw her hat in the ring, and dogs like Waikarie Bell of Blue Bell as she’s affectionately known have left her loving every minute of it.

“She just continues to amaze me, I can’t thank Brian and Cathy (Baker) for letting me have a go with her; to see her transform from a timid little thing to the way she struts around now has been so good to watch,” Kleinhans said.

“She won her maiden over the 500 and I thought she was going to be a sprinter, but she just couldn’t keep up with them after that and I was at a bit of a dead end.

“I gave her a run over the 600 and she looked like she was ready to go again, so I went to the 700 a couple of weeks ago and she did the rest.

“It’s amazing, all her brothers and sisters out of the Brad Hill Billy/Waikarie Magic litter are 500-metre dogs at best, but she was just blessed with the ability to stay.”

Kleinhans was more nervous than Waikarie Bell when she tackled free for all company two weeks ago, and the bitch is taking it in her stride before knocking them over as favourite last week.

“I was in shock when she won in free for all company a fortnight ago, she’d had one 700 before a few months ago and didn’t handle it but to come out and beat a dog like Big Boy Bruce who’d been racing in Group class, I was in shock,” she said.

“She’s traditionally been a mad railer and drawn out in box eight against that field I was a bit worried where she’d get to, but she managed to find a spot and to see her come around dogs to power away in the home straight was even more pleasing.

“I was probably more nervous last week when everyone kept telling me she was the favourite and how far she was going to win by, I was in tears after the race I was that proud of her.”

The bitch draws box four in Thursday’s free for all race, and despite some stiff competition, there doesn’t look to be any reason she can’t make it three on the trot.

“Whether she can do it again on Thursday night I’m not sure, but I can count on her going out there and giving 110% for me because that’s just in her nature,” Kleinhans said.

“I think the biggest change this preparation is the way she’s been jumping, she’s not giving them a 10-length head start anymore.

“She’s getting away just behind the speed and putting herself in realistic positions to win the race, looking at the field she’s definitely capable of getting another nice run.

“There are some handy dogs that will be in front of her tomorrow night; Cool Talk, Blue Bandit, Split Sound, but we don’t worry about who we’re racing against as long as she’s sound.”

There have been plenty of voices in the trainer’s ear about bigger targets after Waikarie Bell cracked 42 seconds last week (41.97), but Kleinhans has her own methods and is happy to keep her home.

“I’d never send her away down south to a different kennel for a race, we’ve got our routine that we go through every week here,” she said.

“I spend the majority of my week with her and I think that’d throw her off kilter a bit in a foreign environment.

“She goes up the straight at the Glasshouse Mountains a couple of times a week and the day after a run I let her out in the yard and if she runs around five times I know she’s recovered and if she doesn’t I know she might need a week off.

“She’s an easy dog to keep fit because if you don’t work her she’d bark the kennel down, she likes things the way they are which fortunately fits with what you want in a stayer.”

Not many trainers would have a closer relationship with their animal than Kleinhans and Waikarie Bell, the two are one in the same and despite some friendly banter, Kleinhans intends on keeping it that way.

“I love all my dogs, but I probably do give her a bit of preferential treatment, she’s the Queen around my place and I think she knows it too,” she said.

“Brian (Baker) tries to poke fun at me saying every time I get a dog I “Karenise” them, meaning I spoil them a bit and they only ever want to be around me; he’s probably right but that’s the way I train - I’m an emotional person and that doesn’t bother me.”

Kleinhans attributes a lot of her success to the years she spent with pups, finding plenty of similarities in training race dogs.

“When I used to rear and whelp pups for the best part of 20 years I used to make sure I knew every little trait each one of them had,” she said.

“If you give them that attention and spend a little bit more time with them when they’re young it tends to pay off when they start racing.

“I don’t do anything special with them, I just try to be as hands on as possible; the more you know your dogs, the more likely you are to know what makes them tick.

“That experience nursing the young pups has certainly taught me a few lessons that I’ve carried into my training; I’m only twelve months in, so I’m still learning but it’s not like I’m starting to work with dogs for the first time.”

The Kleinhans have forged a fantastic relationship with fellow trainer couple Brian and Cathy Baker since they relocated to Morayfield three years ago, each enjoying eachother’s successes.

“I’ve been really lucky to have Cathy and Brian just around the corner, every time we go to the races we go together and it’s always a celebration if either of our dogs win,” she said.

“Whenever they need a hand with their pups, I love going around there are helping out and if I ever need advice or someone to go to, I know I can always rely on them.”