Week Ending 30th December

Monday 24th
One winner to begin the week with at Swindon.
Active Lark continued her good recent form as she won another A2 in 28.95.
Wednesday 26th
No luck today with our 5 Swindon runners.
Thursday 27th
For the first time in a while we took a trip to Hove with 7 runners and managed to return with a couple of winners and some good performances.
Swords Brett continued his recent improvement as he flew the lids and led all the way to beat kennel mate Kelseys Prince by 3 1/4 lengths in a very good 29.83. Brett recorded a very useful 4.08 sectional and this was as good a Hove debut as we've had from any dog for a while.
Swords Messi got his first open win as he won his 515 maiden in good style. Messi didn't break as well as he can do but showed lovely early to lead at the bend and went on to score by 4 1/4 lengths in 30.23. He should improve for that run and will head back to Hove again next week.
Friday 28th
No winners from this afternoon's meeting. Razor Titanic and Keeperhill Hawk both ran well in defeat.
Saturday 29th
For the third meeting on the trot we struck a blank at Swindon. Flag Officer ran his heart out for us though as he was narrowly beaten in the A1.
Sunday 30th
A trip to Sittingbourne this evening for our last open race action of the year.
Droopys Harper ran well enough in his 500m maiden open. He was going into the bend in a handy position but got a bit lost and moved off which put an end to his chances but he stayed on well to finish 3rd.
Ballyhill Power has been renamed Alarming Jacks after being sold to new owners and she did them proud in her first run for them as she finished 2nd in a decent sprint open. Power is not a sprinter and was only put in the race as the 450m maiden open failed to fill but she handled herself very well indeed. She missed the break but showed very good pace to the bend but suffered some crowding but she got herself over to the rail and really came home well. She'll be entered for the 480m maiden there next week and if she draws the inside she'll run a big race.
Five Alley Pub was also slowly into stride and got crowded pretty much everywhere he went but was only beaten around 4 lengths and will improve a lot for the look round. He'll also head back there next week.
Jolly Bullseye once again showed his huge potential as he won his 480m race by over 7 lengths. Bullseye missed the kick but showed superb early and real guts at the bend to force his way through and really opened up going down the back to go clear. He's gaining fitness all the time now and stayed the 480 out strongly tonight. I was very impressed with this run and he'll also head back there next week.
Droopys Danneel made a winning debut for the kennel as she won her open over the tough 500m trip. Dani missed the kick but showed a nice turn of early and ran a brave first bend to nip round in front. Once she got the lead, it was going to take something special to beat her as she stays very strongly and she went on to win by nearly 4 lengths. Dani can only improve now with a few runs and some increased work at home and she'll be one of our top performers in 2013 I'm sure. We really rate this girl.

So that brings us to the end of the 2012 campaign. It's been a terrific year for us as we ended on 92 open race winners (way above what we thought was an ambitious 50 target). We finished 17th in the trainers championship and 7th overall on number of open race winners in the country. Some of the highlights included:
Ding Hero's win in the Monkey 509'er at Swindon and the Maiden Stayers final at Romford
Chilli Hot Sauce reaching the Swindon Produce Stakes final
Crinkill Jewel's track record run over Coventry's 692m trip
Gemstone Jack making the final of the Nottingham Produce Stakes final
Crinkill Jewel winning the Kent St Leger at Crayford
Kilmalady Biffo and Glenbane Air making the final of the Oxfordshire Trophy
Slippery Patch runner up in the Cesarewitch final
Barnish Booth winning the Oxfordshire Gold Cup final (Glenbane and Biffo also made the final)
Taranis Rex finishing 3rd in the Laurels final
Finishing 2nd, 4th and 6th in the Henlow Maiden Derby final
Forest Mollie finishing third in the Oaks final.

The graded dogs have been in fantastic form for most of the year at Swindon as we finished with a 30% strike rate and over 300 winners.