Juggling training greyhounds, family and running a business, sleep-ins are a rarity for Tamworth trainer Melanie Mabbott, but she wouldn't have it any other way.
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Racing greyhounds is very much a labour of love, instilled in her from an early age.
"I was brought up with greyhound racing. My father (Dick Edmonds) was a trainer so it's all I've ever known," Mabbott said.
She said having a business to run (Mabbott and husband Anthony own Mikeloren Patisserie), as well as the dogs and kids to look after, it can be quite hard to fit it all in but they manage, with a lot of team-work.
They have a good friend that helps out and her mum also helps however she can.
"It's (greyhounds) something we love to do, so we just do it," Mabbott said.
"The whole family gets in on it. The kids they all love the dogs."
She currently has about 15 dogs racing (they also have a lot of other dogs and pups that they've bred).
That means 15 dogs that need to be exercised daily.
Hence Mabbott is usually up before the sun.
"My day starts at five o'clock in the morning to go down and get them all walked and fed and emptied out and everything like that before I get the kids ready for school and go to work and come home and do it all again," she said.
The dogs are walked on the walking machines in the morning.
"Then of an afternoon we've got 50m runs that they'll go in and have a run and a gallop - they're free galloped," she said.
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Greyhound racing is one of the few sports still operating during the coronavirus pandemic, which she is grateful for.
On Wednesday she will hitch up the trailer and make the hour trip to Gunnedah, where she will have nine runners at the first of four successive Wednesday meetings the club have been allocated under the racing schedule for the next month.
Mabbott welcomed the extra races after the club, which is the centralised hub for racing in the region under Greyhound Racing NSW's COVID-19 measures, were only allocated two meetings in the schedule for the first month.
It meant a lot of dogs were missing out on runs.
She still had a couple of dogs that missed out for Wednesday's meeting, but was happy to get nine in.
Tralee Diesel will race in the Ladbrokes Back Yourself Stakes, Tralee Ace and Pete's Gym Boots the Ladbrokes Info Hub Stakes, Londyn's Choice in the Ladbrokes Live Streaming Stakes, Hurtle Myrtle, Hungry Grub and Tralee Dominator in the Ladbrokes Protest Payout Stakes, Mystic Tralee in the Ladbrokes Stakes and Uno Dave in the Ladbrokes Cash Out Stakes.
Mabbott is hopeful of being among the money.
"We've got a couple of good chances," she said.
The first race jumps at 3.47pm.
