Former Rockhampton chaser learning new tricks in retirement

By Jordan Gerrans

The old adage goes ‘you can't teach an old dog new tricks’.

For former Rockhampton chaser Tokyo Dreamer, he has learnt a few new tricks in retirement.

But, they have come through a curious and unexpected teacher.

The black dog had his last career start at Rockhampton’s Callaghan Park track in October of last year for Emerald-based trainer Christine Pollard.

The son of Aston Dee Bee was a smart chaser, winning 10 of his 84 career starts, as well as being placed on 23 other occasions.

In retirement, Tokyo Dreamer – or Cohen as he is now referred to in his post-racing life – has relocated to Roma in regional Queensland with Morgan Cummings.

Cummings already had a canine in her family before Cohen arrived, with a dachshund named Ace ruling the roost.

Ace and Cohen quickly became ‘best of pals’ and the sausage dog helped ease the former race dog into retirement.

“Cohen was focused on racing and that was what he mainly did before he came to me,” Cummings said.

“But, he was still learning those regular dog things to do, which the sausage dog really helped him with, he really taught him things and it was cute to see.

“Just little things about eating different food and treats, Cohen would just look at it before he quickly realised that Ace was chewing on it.

“He saw Ace playing with squeaky toys and stuff like that and found out that is how he could play. He slowly learnt how to do things through the sausage dog.

“Whenever Cohen got a bit whingy, we would send Ace out with him and he would calm him down pretty quickly.

“We used to get a few funny looks from people walking a greyhound and dachshund together with the difference in size.”

Cummings’ uncle Lenny was previously a greyhound trainer in the Central Queensland area many decades ago.

He has not carried the lead and collar himself for some time but he has kept close connections with the industry, which helped him acquire the former chaser from Pollard for his niece.

“I told him that it was my dream to have a greyhound,” Morgan Cummings recalls of her conversation with her uncle Lenny. 

“He quickly got in contact with Christine and it went from there.

“You can tell that Christine must have been close with Cohen as he is a dog that likes to be with people.

“Cohen just loves people, you can really see that in him.”

Pollard raced Tokyo Dreamer’s mother Tokyo Swift during her career in CQ, as well.

Tokyo Dreamer excelled over the sprint 407 metre trip at ‘Rocky’, winning on nine occasions over the distance and clocked a personal best effort of 23.77 seconds.

Following his final race start, he has settled into his retirement routine of breakfast in the morning, before a play, then some lounging around and potentially a short walk later in the day.

“Cohen is perfectly fine, chilling out by himself and doing his little routine,” Cummings said.

“He is just relaxing.

“He likes to be in the same routine which works for me because I am a routine based person, anyway.

“It took him a while to realise he was retired and he didn’t need to run fast anymore but he is loving life now."

April is National Greyhound Adoption Month and Racing Queensland will highlight a number of former race dogs thriving in retirement throughout the month.

In celebration of Greyhound Adoption Month, Queensland’s Greyhound Adoption Program next upcoming event in South East Queensland is Homeward Hounds on Saturday, 12 April at Albion Park Harness Racing Club from 9am.  

Click here to meet greyhounds available for adoption and apply to adopt online.