Week Ending 29th December

Monday 23rd
A good evening at Romford as we won both heats of the Stayers competition.
The soon to retire Ding Hero really battled well to take his heat by a short head in 35.93 while the useful Fairhill Paddy led all the way in his heat to win by 3 lengths in a fast 35.19.
Unfortuantley Paddy cut his foot in the race and missed the final on Friday night. We now face a race against time to have him ready for the Coronation Cup. It would be a great shame to miss this comp as he's more than good enough to go a long way in it.
Thursday 26th
Just the one winner from today's Boxing day meeting.
Gleannrue Mario made it 2 from 2 at Swindon as he showed a lot of guts to hold on to win his A2 by a short head in 29.28.
Swansalona Bolt ran well on debut to be beaten 1 1/4 lengths in his A6. He won't be too long in winning.
Friday 27th
A very quiet day for the kennel with just Ding Hero at Romford in the stayers final. Ding has run his heart out again to finish 2nd, beaten just over a length.
Saturday 28th
Two winners to finish a quiet week off with.
Droopys Harper who's been running well of late without winning, led off the 2nd bend to gamely win his S1 by 3/4 of a length in 42.09.
Jet Stream Olly led home a kennel 1-2-3 in one of the A1's. Olly broke well and led pretty much all the way to beat Glenmire Warrior by 1 length in a personal best 28.79. I was pleased with the run of Warrior who looked much more at home on a galloping track and it's possible he'll head to Sittingbourne next week for a maiden. Perhaps the most eye catching dog to take from the race was Swansalona Diva who showed huge promise to finish 3rd beaten just over 4 lengths in her first ever race. It's a massive ask for a novice to go straight into top heat against experienced campaigners but she handled the occasion well and would have gone a lot closer without crowding down the back straight. She really does look a terrific prospect.
Gemstone Jack ran his best race so far since returning from injury as he finished 2nd in the other A1. Jack recorded 28.62 but had no answer to Erics Gav who was a very impressive winner of the race.

Top 10 Prospects To Follow In 2014

Forest Gavin (Droopys Scolari x Forest May - June 2012)
Gavin joined the kennel nearly 3 months ago after a sizzling 28.69 official trial at Newbridge at just 15 months of age. We've given him plenty of time to settle in and mature and he'll begin his qualifying trials in the new year with his main aim being the Monmore Puppy Derby.

Southern Mesut (Ballymac Maeve x Foxes Lady - Sept 2011)
Mesut has already had 5 races for the kennel but it is still somewhat unknown just how good he could be. He began life in A1 company at Swindon where he showed huge pace to the third bend before tiring coming home. He was quickly switched to Romford where he made an immediate impact winning by 5 1/4 lengths in 24.17. He's since gone on to win 2 further opens posting a very fast 23.83. I'm convinced he'll stay a 460m trip comfortably and he may even stay the Derby trip as well. He's a top prospect for sure.

Boom Boom Lass (Vans Escalade x Heroes Last Lass - June 2012)
Lass has made a huge impact in just 4 career starts to date.
She won her debut race by 13 3/4 lengths in 29.17, was beaten in a hot A2 after that but showed the benefit from that experience as she then won an A2 by 1 1/4 lengths in 29.03 before winning a really tricky A1 race by 4 1/4 lengths in a personal best 28.90.
Lass looks to have the complete package. Very good early, she's a good and brave bend runner and stays the tough 480m Swindon trip well. She's not raced for a few weeks now as she missed a Romford maiden after being off colour but she has a huge future for sure and could well make an Oaks bitch.

Boom Boom Hero (Vans Escalade x Heroes Last Lass - June 2012)
Hero is a full brother to Boom Boom Lass and is another great prospect. He made a brilliant start to his career winning two A2's on the bounce in 29.23 and 29.02 before being very badly crowded in his third race. We then took him to Monmore which was perhaps too soon for him and he returned to Swindon to be beaten only 3/4 of a length in A2. He was crowded early on but still recorded 29.09. He's now being given a while off to strengthen up and mature as he's a big 36 kilo dog and needs time.

Dragon Big Bux (Tullymurry Act x Tullymurry Mona - June 2012)
Bux was purchased after finishing 3rd in the Gain Future Champion Unraced stake at Enniscorthy in October. The two dogs that finished in front of him (Kingsmill Sky and Deanridge Pennys) are among Irelands top prospects so the form is rock solid. Our fella led them to the third bend and he possesses some fierce early pace. He's gone well in his couple of trials so far but will be kept to trips around 460m for the time being. He'll more than likely have the Monmore puppy as his main target as well.

Fiscal Cliff (Droopys Scolari x QuaremSparkler - Jan 2012)
Cliff was purchased after a stunning debut run at Drumbo Park in a sprint race. He's only had 3 races for us so far but showed a glimpse of what's to come when winning an A2 in good style in 28.86.
He was running very well against Erics Gav in a hot A1 race before being badly crowded at the bend and has since strained a hock in a Monmore trial and will be put away for the winter. He needs a bit of time to grow up this lad but he'll make a very nice dog next year and has a bright future.

Forest Oscar (Droopys Scolari x Forest May - June 2012)
Oscar is a full brother to Gavin and was purchased after I saw him run in an unofficial trial at Newbridge. He's a big powerful dog with some lovely early pace but he's done so little it's not really known how good he could be. He's one official trial on the card of 29.25 Newbridge at 15 months old which is a lovely run.

Millstreet Duke (Westmead Hawk x Little Flutter - September 2011)
Duke has only just joined the kennel last week but he looks an exciting dog. He's kept very good company at Shelbourne Park and has won his last two A1 races over the 575yard trip. He's been purchased in the hope he'll stay the 575m trip at Romford as he could be a very useful dog if he does but if he doesn't he'll still win plenty of 4 bend races at the likes of Hove and Sittingbourne.

Boom Boom Dave (Lughill Jo x Swift Reel - June 2012)
Dave has won 2 of his 5 races but has probably lived in the shadows of the other Boom Boom pups somewhat and not been given the credit he deserves. Dave is a big handsome wide running greyhound who still has plenty to learn but has already posted 29.09 at Swindon and looks like he'll thrive when stepped up in trip next year. He finished lame in his only A1 race to date and will be left off for a while now to grow on.

Swansalona Diva (College Causeway x Odell Faith - Jan 2012)
We've had Diva in the kennel a long time now but we've needed to be very patient with her. The whole litter suffered from sore metacarpal joints so we backed right off this girl after her schooling. She was given two sprint trials at Swindon in which she went very well but again she was a bit sore so we gave her another 4 months off to mature and it seems to have done the trick. She posted 16.73 in her first trial back and then amazed us when posting 28.99 and 28.83 in her first ever four bend trials. She's bred to stay and finds another gear from the third bend and is without doubt one of the best and most interesting prospects we've got at the moment.

Week Ending 22nd December

Monday 16th
Another cracking day with 3 winners from our 6 runners.
Glendine Girl got a much deserved win in her A6 as she led all the way to win in 29.89.
Lovely youngster Forest Lexie, firmly left the A4 grade behind her today as she led all the way to win by 3 lengths in 29.23. She's a long way off being fully matured yet and will make a nice bitch next year.
Jet Stream Girl made it a hat trick of wins as she came from behind kennel mate Stanton Ovation to win their A4 by 1 1/2 lengths in 29.82.
Over at Coventry, Forest Bound ran his heart out to finish 2nd in his semi final of the Golden Muzzle but he unfortunately finished injured with a chipped hock and misses the chance to run in the final. Freddie should make a full recovery though and will be back on track in a couple of months.
Tuesday 17th
Glenmire Warrior graded at Swindon today with a fluent 28.88 trial win. He'd not been suited to Romford so we decided to give him a graded run or two before heading back out on the open race scene at more galloping tracks. He beat Gemstone Meg by 3 1/4 lengths but she returned with a nasty cut to her foot and faces another spell on the easy list.
Fairhill Paddy moved well to record 28.80 after his fall at Henlow and will now head back to Romford.
Unraced pup, Swansalona Diva, produced a stunning qualifying trial this morning. This was her first ever four bend run and she won by 12 3/4 lengths in 28.99. It was quite an incredible effort considering the lack of schooling and work she's had. She looks like she could make a top class stayer. Her brother, Swansalona Bolt qualified for racing today with his 30.08 effort.
Wednesday 18th
The very long delay in getting racing underway proved to be worth the wait as we had another couple of winners plus the forecast in the owners bonus series.
Tseal made it two wins on the trot as he led at the first bend to just hold off kennel mate Alarming Arti by a short head in 29.26 to win the £500 owners bonus final. It's been hard work with Tseal since he joined the kennels and it's great that the patience his owners have shown has been rewarded.
Gleannrue Mario won his first race at Swindon by 2 1/4 in 29.22 as he led from halfway in his A2.
Thursday 19th
A huge night for the kennel as Droopys Danneel won the English Oaks at Belle Vue.
It's a dream come true for us to win our first Classic and Danneel was a very deserving winner of the £15,000 first prize.
She broke well but got turned sideways at the bend but showed huge guts and determination to force her way to the front on the third bend before staying on strongly to win by a length.
Although she's more than capable of carrying on racing at the very top level, Danni is now 3 years old and there's little else to achieve once you've won the Oaks so she's now been retired to the breeding paddocks.
Danni had 19 races for the kennel, she won 12 of these, finished 2nd 6 times and was 4th in the other race which was after seasonal break. Not a bad record at all!
It's almost impossible to replace a bitch of this class and attitude but she'll leave us with some great memories and we'll never forgot our first Oaks winner.
Friday 20th
A few winners at Swindon today.
Sligo Mick got the ball rolling as he flew the lids and led all the way to win his A2 in 29.10.
Forest Pearl took full advantage of a drop to A3 class as she led all the way to win by 5 lengths in 29.30. I don't think we've seen the best of this girl by a long way yet and I'd expect some good improvement in the better weather next year.
Burgess Ali won her first race back since injury as she led at the first bend to win in 29.91.
Smoothoppa Razor led all the way in her A2 to win in 29.20.
Allen Buttercup won the bitches open at Romford in good style as she won by 1 1/2 lengths in 24.32.
Saturday 21st
Zamboni Zazzle made it a clean sweep of finals for the kennel this week as she led all the way in her £500 Owners Bonus Series to win by 1 length in 29.29.
Redlion Enfield missed all the trouble in her race as she was left clear to win by over 13 lengths in a personal best 29.53.
Gemstone Jack got a much deserved win in his A1 as he stayed strongly to beat kennel mate, Jet Stream Olly by 1/2 a length in 29.00. It was good to see Jack back to winning ways and hopefully he'll continue to improve. I think a lot of people forget how talented this lad is on his day.
Sunday 22nd
Jet Stream Odds made a disappointing exit from the Xmas Cracker at Henlow tonight as he was slowly away and got crowded early. Although Ozzy tends to rail the bends, we may try this fellow with a wide seed and see how he gets on as his first instinct is always to move right from the traps.
It was great to see Jolly Bullseye back to winning ways as he pinged the lids and led all the way to win his open in 27.70. Bullseye had ran a stinker the week before but we couldn't find any reason for it so decided to keep him racing and it proved the right move. He's had so little running of late that I think he was just lacking that race sharpness but hopefully he's back to himself and will head to Sittingbourne next time.