Darwin homecoming long overdue for Hosking

By Isaac Murphy

The year 2018 was a life altering one for Jamie Hosking.

The Darwin trainer lost his highly respected grandad, Mick Emery, and made the decision to move to Brisbane and continue his training legacy.

Almost three years on, Hosking finds himself competing at Group 1 level in Brisbane.

But he’s never lost sight of his roots and can’t wait to get back home for a well-deserved racing holiday, that coincides with the Darwin Cup in early August.

The prestige of the races he’s been contesting in Brisbane may be larger, but the Darwin Cup will always be closest to his heart.

“Darwin’s where it all started for me, I’m born and bred in the Northern Territory and can’t wait to get up there for a couple of weekends and see all the people who mean the world to me,” Hosking said.

“Darwin’s a pretty small laid back place and for me and plenty of others is an ideal community to race greyhounds whether you were there full-time like me or just head up for a racing holiday.

“The Darwin Cup is far from the biggest race on the calendar class and money wise, but it’s so much more than a race for me, I get the chance to go home.”

The Hosking kennel has grown exponentially over the past few years and looks to have found a handy one in dual Meadows and Sandown winner Mandalorian.

Mandalorian is looking like their main Cup hope.

“In terms of dogs I’m thinking of taking up for the race probably the only one I’ve got locked in at the moment is Mandalorian,” Hosking said.

“He had a really handy career in Melbourne and has just been with me for his last two starts where he’s had to tackle Free for All company and a tough 600 metre race, but I think he’d be suited to the 537 metres around Darwin.

“Since I’m going for a couple of weeks, I’ll probably bring along a few short course dogs and try to win some races over the sprint as well.”

Hosking has been hard at work establishing his kennel since arriving three years ago and can’t wait to step out of the bubble for a couple of weeks.

“Since I relocated down to Queensland in 2018, I’ve only had the chance to get up and see family and friends once, with Covid and racing getting in the way,” he said.

“It’s not easy to go on holiday as a greyhound trainer, I was trying to establish myself down here and simply haven’t had the chance to leave the dogs and take a break.

“I wouldn’t change it for anything though, a bitch like Mick’s Recall gets you up every morning, I’m sometimes pinching myself with how far I’ve come.”

Hosking was expecting a much longer journey to get to his current standing, but thanks to his grandad he’s well ahead of schedule.

“There were a lot of unknowns when I first made the move, talking to a lot of greyhound people, you’re not much of anything without a good brood bitch, but little did I know what Paul’s Memory would do for me,” he said.

“Her first litter wasn’t much chop, but the Dyna Double One’s were out of this world, Mick’s Recall, Columbian King, Waddling Witch and Power Point Diva they really set me up.

“We expected it might take us five years to find a good bitch, but my grandad (Mick Emery) had one secretly stashed away, who’s produced more quality bitches that we will breed from.”

Like most trainers, Hosking relies heavily on the help of others behind the scenes and had one particular person he couldn’t have done it without.

“There’s so many people that’ve contributed to where I’m at today but none more so than my partner Chenille Yeomans,” he said.

“People don’t see all the stuff she does behind the scenes and when we go racing someone has to stay at home and man the fort, we make a good team.

“We’re lucky enough to be going to Darwin together, my Mum’s going to come down and stay at home and some good friends of ours Stephen and Karen Tribe have offered to help out while we’re away.”