Britton satellite team keen to make carnival splash

By Jordan Gerrans

With their new satellite kennel ticking along nicely on a weekly basis, the team of Tim Britton and Martina Kirillidis are now keen to make a splash with black-type glory during the Queensland Golden Greys Summer Racing Carnival.

The leading Britton greyhound racing clan broke new ground in the Sunshine State by opening a satellite kennel in the back end of last year.

It is the first of its kind for the code in Queensland and follows the move of top gallops trainers Chris Waller and Kris Lees, among others, to run a satellite team from interstate.

The Queensland-based kennel is operated by Tim Britton – the son of top conditioner Rob Britton - and his partner Kirillidis out of Churchable.

They have made their mark across the state, regularly producing winners at Ipswich and Albion Park, and have now set their sights on carnival glory.

They had runners in last week's Golden Ticket heats but had little luck with Multi Matt and Captain Larry. 

The team’s First Picked tackles the Listed Clem Jones Cup over the staying trip on Thursday evening before diving into the Group 1 Gold Cup series from there.

“She is probably the favourite of the kennel, she is a lovely bitch,” Tim said of First Picked.

“She thinks she is pretty special. She will be a mum one day.”

First Picked has been a stand out stayer wherever she has raced throughout her career.

She is a Group 1 champion in Western Australia – claiming the feature WA Galaxy last year – as well as several other top three black-type finishes.

With Queensland staying star Valpolicella currently campaigning interstate, the Albion Park staying event this Thursday should be as open as any have been in some time.

First Picked was beaten by Tony Zammit’s top bitch earlier this month as well as another occasion in late November.

Tim thinks First Picked still has quality racing in her legs despite being a veteran of 65 career starts and ticking past her third birthday recently.

“She is not as young as she used to be but she still runs out the 700 metres strong,” Britton said.

“I have had her over 600 metres the last month and I think she has formed a habit of getting back further than she used to.

“The 700 metres suits her and I think she will go well on Thursday night.

“She is freshened up and fit for this week. She is fit and experienced and will run her race, she will try.”

First Picked has drawn four for the Listed event over 710 metres on Thursday.

Like many stayers around this time of year, Tim and Martina have their eyes on the heats of the Group 1 Gold Cup following the Clem Jones Cup.

Martina explains that it is a process of adjustment for the majority of dogs in their kennel adapting to the humidity in the Sunshine State compared to their previous homes.

She notes of the 32 greyhounds in the team at the moment, First Picked has settled in as well as any of them and is thriving on life north of the border.

“A lot of the dogs have been racing well so that shows they are adjusting well with the change,” Martina said.

Tim and Martina brought a contingent of the family's dogs north for the recent winter carnival and decided to call Queensland home.

While they did not walk away with any major features during the 2023 rich winter period, they proved to be competitive throughout.

The Brittons rented the property previously operated by trainer Steven Scott before purchasing it.

They have not looked back since.

“We really just fell in love with the place,” Martina said.

“When the opportunity came to get the property, we jumped on it.

“So far it has been working out well. Everything is panning out really well, it has been great so far.”

As champion dog man Rob Britton detailed late last year, the idea behind the new Sunshine State facility is that it will be focused solely on racing.

There will be no pre-training, whelping or breeding pursuits, with all efforts put into winning races in Queensland.

They have 32 in work at the moment with dogs being transferred back and forth between Victoria and Queensland.

“We have a whole heap of dogs at different levels so we need to do what is right for them,” Martina said.

“It is going good so far. We are flat out at the moment but you wouldn’t want it any other way.”

Tim and Martina have another Clem Jones hopeful in their kennel with Big Suzie recently coming north.

Big Suzie is prepared by James Shaw in regional Victoria and will be with the satellite Britton team on a ‘caretaker’ basis.

Big Suzie had a recent Albion Park 710 metre box to box to prepare for Thursday’s assignment.

Fellow Britton stayers Like Wildfire and Pearly Tears have recently come north from Victoria and are also expected to be active throughout the remainder of the carnival.

Mepunga Tully will fly the flag for the Brittons in the annual Vince Curry Memorial heats on Saturday night at Ipswich.