Why you may ask. Well, because in his words, he is living the dream.

"I have my dogs, my health and my family," he said.

Tonight at Ballarat, O'Keeffe lines up in race eight with two very special greyhounds in Cosmic Katie and Up And About. The pair share the same mother Bells Are Ringin, a dog which put the trainer and his huge smile on the map.

"I'll take you back to 2016, it was the year of the hobby trainer and Bells Are Ringin gave me my very first group 1 victory - the Sandown Cup, at 50-1," he said.

"That's a moment you don't forget and now I get to train her pups. Bells Are Ringin is the group 1 gift that keeps on giving."

Up And About, which has drawn box six, is out of Bells Are Ringin's first litter. He is 41 starts into his career and O'Keeffe says he is a bit of an enigma.

"He is a bit like his trainer, likes to get up to a bit of mischief and he has ability."

Cosmic Katie is the younger of the two and has had 11 career starts for four wins and three second placings. She jumps from box four against her older brother.

"Neither of my two are favourites for the race, but I do think Up And About will be in for a very good place chance," O'Keeffe said.

"Gippsland's number one greyhound hydro-bather in my nine-year-old granddaughter Ava give Cosmic Katie and Up And Away a bath so they are shining."

Bells Are Ringin and her puppies are owned by a syndicate managed by O'Keeffe's son in law, Glenn Pask.

Greyhound racing in Victoria is continuing despite the threat of COVID-19, but with a number of social distancing and hygiene measures in place.

Members of the community contacted The Courier with concerns about the amount of cars parked at the Morshead Park complex during the most recent Monday race meeting.

GRV introduced further changes this week in line with government social distancing protocols. The number of stewards on track has been cut from five to three, non-essential staff have been removed from race meetings, a demarcation of maximum occupants has been placed on all indoor areas of tracks/clubs and ear brand checks of greyhounds and pre-race parading has ceased. The starting box loading process now sees greyhounds placed in one at a time, with handlers moving out of the loading zone immediately after loading their dog.

Other measures include the removal of numbered bibs for handlers and catchers and an attempt for pre-kennelling and pre-race vet checks to be conducted in the open air.