Week ending 5th July 2009

Monday 29th
A quiet start to what would be a bad week at the office!
Only 4 runners today at Swindon. Stanton Spaniel provided our best result when finishing a close up 3rd.
Wednesday 1st
Due to the exceptional heat this week, we decided not to trial any of our dogs on Tuesday and spent the morning bathing the dogs. We continued this today and managed to get every dog done. They really seemed to appreciate the cooling dip, and the shampoo has made the dogs coat gleam!
We took 5 runners to the track this evening. Hell Razor ran a cracking race, only going down by a length. He led for a long time but just tired in the last few strides. Stanton Bluebell ran a blinder in the 480m Open Race. She stumbled out of the boxes and was crowding around the opening turns. However, she plugged on gamely to finish 3rd. It's never nice having to run dogs in this heat and all of ours were given around ten minutes wrapped in a cold, wet towel before being returned to the kennel.
Tonight saw the arrival in the kennel of Full Bloom. 'Buster' as he is known, has been a prolific Open Racer throughout his career and won the Irish Derby Consolation Final at Shelbourne Park last year. Although, at 4 1/2 years of age, it's fair to say that his best days are behind him, he's still retains a lot of ability and is a great addition to the kennel.
Friday 3rd
A day that's probably best to forget!
Pigheaded who has been a very good servant over the last 2 1/2 years was disqualified from racing tonight after taking a liking to trap 1's ear hole off the last bend. The hot weather plays havoc with the dogs and the heat can tip normally genuine dogs over the edge. 'Piglet' as she is lovingly known, is to be retired to the owners home and can look forward to great life though.
Tullovin Blossom finished 2nd in her A5 contest but has suffered a ruptured tendon behind her wrist and faces a lengthy lay off. We've had a few niggling injuries lately which can be very frustrating but unfortunately it's part of the game. Our best performances on the track came from Stanton Spaniel who was only beaten a neck. Field Son ran a cracking race and it was only the slow going (-40) that beat him. Realt Gael returned from injury and ran with credit first time up to finish 3rd. She took a nasty tumble on the way to the pick up, but is none the worse for it.
Saturday 4th
A slightly better day today, thankfully! Clomantagh Blue got off the mark with her first victory. She flew from the boxes and won well in 29.77.
There were some very good performances on the night and with a bit of luck we could of come away with 3 or 4 winners. Stanton Sarah ran a blinder after being very badly crowded at the first bend. She was a somewhat detached 5th entering the second bend but flew home to finish 3rd and would surly have won with a run.
There were cries of 'we were robbed' from the terraces as Ballinorig Maeve went from being a 1/10 shot approaching the last bend to being badly crowded and knocked back to 3rd. She rallied quickly though and finished a good 2nd. She would have won comfortably with a run. She will be stepped up to six bends for a trial on Tuesday and will hopefully go well enough to be able to compete in Open Class.
Although Maeve ran a blinder, the performance of the night has to go to Nightgirls Annie. Annie missed the break completely and hit the running rail approaching the first bend. She was so far behind after missing the break that I think she tried to turn the corner at the same time as the dogs in front of her. Out of the second bend she must of been 12 lengths behind the lead dog. She unleashed terrific pace from the third bend and fairly flew home off the last to finish 2nd. She stayed on incredibly well to the pick up and was already having her feet washed off before the other dogs arrived there lol. It will be very interesting to see her in a six bend race. Redstone Turk completed his qualifying trials with a decent 29.04 workout. He almost caught the hare several times during his trial and looks a very pacey sort.