Things aint what they used to be!

THERE was a time, and not so long ago, when a trainer would jump at the chance of a track attachment and the security, well almost, that such a position offered.

Those times however have gone, track closures mean that the demand for greyhounds is considerably less than it was say 15 years ago and the knock on effect is that there are fewer trainers in business.

Trainers are not, however, a dying species, although they are certainly in decline, as is the racing greyhound breed itself, the number of litters bred in Britain and Ireland has been falling for several years now and consequently a number of tracks are reporting a shortage of runners and have been for some time.

The re-opening of Coventry has offered a lifeline to some and fair play to trainers, they are supporting the track in numbers. Conversely however, concern over the future of the GRA and its five tracks has everyone on tenterhooks and we are advised to expect an announcement from our biggest promoter once the hullabaloo of the Derby has gone away!

Walthamstow, despite the tremendous efforts of Ricky Holloway and company, still looks dead in the water, although many are hanging onto the coat-tails of Boris Johnson in the hope that he can fire a warning shot across the bows of would-be developers of the site, L&Q.

Irish businessman and staunch supporter of the sport, Paschal Taggart, has £30 million pounds worth of big plans for Wimbledon but any possible re-development there is some way off, if it ever happens that is, but we live in hope.

But let’s get back to where we came in for never can we remember seeing  so many adverts for the services of trainers as we have in the past few weeks, with Hall Green, Sittingbourne, Oxford and Swindon all advertising in the Racing Post for candidates!

And still on the subject, a racing manager at one of our top tracks told GOBATA this week: “There was a time when we kept a list of trainers all wanting a position with us and if we required a trainer we would simply refer to a list we kept from applicants and then make a few phone calls. But not any more, these days we have to put our thinking caps on and make the approaches ourselves.”

Just about sums it up, doesn’t it!

Any one of them could win the most competitive final of recent years... 

THE old lady that is Wimbledon Stadium is tired and not a shadow of her once pristine self, it is shabby, you need the neck of a giraffe to get a full view of the racing and waders too when it’s raining to avoid drowning on the short walk from the car park to the admissions area - in a word the place is a shambles.

But none of which, you can bet your bottom dollar, will deter that diehard throng of dedicated greyhound racing fans from making the trek to South-west London on Saturday for the most exciting greyhound event of the year, Derby final night!

That is one of the most competitive finals of recent years adds to the fascination of a race which, following more than a month of qualifying, will be all over in less than half-a-minute and see the lucky owner £125,000 better off.

Great if you’re the winner, but spare a thought . . .

THAT hoary old chestnut of also-ran money will rear its ugly head again on Saturday when, in the Derby final of all races, there is, in our opinion, a complete imbalance of prizemoney distribution.

In total, but excluding the rewards for the winning trainer, breeder and kennelstaff, £145,000 will be shared by the owners of the finalists and the lion’s share of that, £125,000, will go to the winner.

Great if you own that winner of course but spare a thought for connections of the last two dogs across the winning line, they will receive the princely sum of £2,500 each.

The runner-up at the weekend will earn £8,000, the third £4,000 and the fourth £3000, which means that the five beaten finalists will share just £20,000 of the pot even though they have gone through nigh on five weeks of fiercely competitive combat!

Agreed, everyone loves a winner and he will deserve every penny he gets, but we are not alone in feeling that the also-ran prizemoney in the Derby final borders on the ridiculous, not to mention insulting.

For Derby sponsors William Hill, to whom the sport is indebted, a win prize of £125,000 looks wonderful, but so too would £100,000, why not in future chop the winner’s prize by 25k and spread that amongst the also rans? It has been mooted that winner next year could be on £150,000, perhaps the also-rans will get a look in then in twelve months’ time.

*The Derby-winning trainer will receive £2,000, the breeder £1,500 while £500 will go to the kennelstaff of the successful trainer.

“He loves his toast and honey,” says Gardner

COOLAVANNY BERT will be out to atone for his half-brother’s odds-on defeat in the Derby final two years ago when he steps out for the big race at Wimbledon on Saturday for his owner and trainer, John Gardner.

And like his half-brother, Toomaline Jack, who was beaten whiskers in fifth place in Bandicoot Tipoki’s blanket finish Derby, Bert could also start favourite to grab the £125,000 first prize at Plough Lane.

“If he can clear Farloe Ironman [trap one] at the boxes that could be the key to the outcome,” said Gardner of Bert in trap two, who took over training the dog in March, up until when he was with Kelly Findlay, who won the Henlow Puppy Derby with him in February.

“But let’s make no mistake, this is a quality Derby final coming up and a case could be made for all of them,” said Gardner, whose kennels are near Hitchin in Hertfordshire. “That said, I don’t think I could have my dog in better shape for the race, so it’s all down to him now.

“Physio Ron Mills gave him a thorough once over on Wednesday, in fact he spent almost an hour and a half with him, so I’m satisfied that all is well but, like all the finalists, he is going to need that little bit of luck in running.”

The trainer has, however, some reservations, having expressed concern over the going at Wimbledon during the Derby, and he is hoping for real top of the ground conditions at the weekend. “My dog needs it fast but when I was on the track the other day I stuck my thumb in and it was dry underneath.

“Okay, so they send the bowser round during the meeting but the water doesn’t really soak down well enough in my opinion and it is a worry. Having said that, Bert is staying on better these days and all of us here are just happy to be in the final, it is an honour.”

That Bert has settled in well in his new surroundings is quite obvious, he has had five races for Gardner, all in the Derby, and has won three times and been second twice. “He is a happy dog and I like to keep him sweet, that’s part of the trick with him,” he said.

More than kept sweet it seems, the dog eats kiwi fruit and bananas and “loves toast and honey in the mornings.” Also part of his diet is Wheatabix and yoghurt and any other titbit that’s going. “He was sniffing round the table at breakfast this morning but declined a raw mushroom but offer him a cooked mushroom and he’ll whoof it down!”

Coolavanny Bert is related to Toomaline Jack through their dam, Mercury Queen, but there will be no more Coolavannys from her, she sadly passed away recently. “It was a great pity as she would always throw a good pup or two,” said Gardner.

Races for Bert after the Derby may include a shot at the Champion of Champions race at the big  Tralee meeting in late June. “I am keen to take him over to Tralee, he started his career there and runs the track well. Let’s hope he runs well at Wimbledon on Saturday!”

THE Dean Childs-trained Baltylum Houdini is lame and misses the William Hill Champion Hurdle decider on Derby final night. It is now a race for five runners with trap six vacant.

. . . but the Lister dog must box clever on Saturday

DEFENDING champion Taylors Sky goes into Saturday’s William Hill Derby final on the back of his longest losing run in 24 races here, added to which is the fact that a trap four draw is not particularly user friendly, although Charlie Lister OBE says the dog “will go down to the first bend in a straight line.”

Three seconds on the bounce in his three latest Derby races might suggest that the champ is not the force of old but a glance at his clocks in those races are indicative that there is life in the old dog yet, and plenty of it – he has come down from a 29.30sec. first round run to a best yet 28.42sec. in the semi-finals.

In fact Taylors Sky has gone faster in every round of the competition, which leads us to think that canny Charlie may still have something left up his sleeve for the race that matters most, it certainly wouldn’t be the first time the Newark handler has found a few spots in a big race final!

But what about that trap four draw in the decider? A plus is that he is on the inside of Judicial Ruling,  who took out Razdazl Jayfkay big time in the semis, the official comment for which was described on Wimbledon’s results sheet as ‘badly crowded first’ as opposed to murdered!

Straight line or not for the Lister dog, the fact is that there is an abundance of early pace on his inside in the shape of Farloe Ironman and Coolavanny Bert and if he concedes too much ground to this pair Taylors Sky would have his work cut out to peg them back.

The final is full of imponderables but wouldn’t it be something if he could join that very elite band of greyhounds who won the Derby in consecutive years, Westmead Hawk most recently in 2005/6 and the sire of Taylors Sky, and Rapid Ranger in 2000/1, and guess who he was trained by, Mr Lister no less!

DRUMBO PARK’S Bettor.com-sponsored Northern Irish Derby gets under way in less than a fortnight (June 2) and both the promoter and the backer are keen to attract more entries from this side of the pond this time around.

“We are trying to get as many dogs over from England as possible,” said assistant racing manager Ryan Rossborough, who pledges that every dog in the competition “will be going home with money.”

That’s an incentive for a start, as is the gesture from Bettor.com to pick up the tab for all entry fees. However, for a race worth £25,000 to the winner (total pool £32,750) the pick up from trainers here last year was disappointing, no more than two or three if memory serves.

The competition is over 503 metres or, in English, 550 yards, and final night (live on Sky) is Saturday, 23 June. The racing office can be contacted on 028 90609912, entries close noon, Wednesday, May 30.

There will be no open race competitions running concurrently with the Derby but final night itself will be a treat with for racegoers with no fewer than ten valuable opens supporting the big race. The races range from a 335 yards sprint up to an 835 yards slog, something to suit all tastes.

Estimates put the attendance figure at a staggering 1,000!

COVENTRY returned with a bang last night when the 12-race, all open card attracted a crowd said to have been approaching four figures!

“We were packed out,” said assistant racing manager Karl Ward, “and the other good news is that everything was spot on, there wasn’t a single hitch with the racing very competitive and with some close finishes.

“We’ve had a good number of calls from racegoers this morning saying how much they enjoyed the night and our racing manager, Martyn Dore, says it may be more of the same this Sunday coming.”

It might be back to the bread and butter of graded racing on Thursday as Dore is hoping to stage a small meeting incorporating a trials session.”

GOBATA member Carol Weatherall had the distinction of sending out the first winner at born again Brandon Stadium when her August puppy, Holdem Spy, romped home by more than six lengths, pleasing not only the trainer but favourite backers too!

There were doubles for Barrie Draper and Mark Wallis while Charlie Lister OBE was also on the score-sheet. Wallis won the sprint with the obligatory Lil Risky and later had a one-two with Springdale Hawk and Rockburst Lenny.

“I couldn’t get to Coventry due to a prior engagement but my kennelstaff, Helen Addison and Sid Huett, said the place was heaving and that the track was in great condition, said Wallis

But GOBATA trainers have four in the final... 

WIMBLEDON was not the place for the feint-hearted on Saturday, especially for those who jumped on the bandwagon by backing the leading Derby fancies ante-post or on the night because semi-final time at Wimbledon yesterday was Armageddon greyhound racing style!

No fewer than four of the top six in the ante-post lists won’t be going back to Plough Lane on final night next Saturday, for two of them their participation in the big race was snuffed out before the first bend, including the only unbeaten dog left in the competition, the white hot favourite, Razldazl Jayfkay.

After another speedy getaway, his hopes were shattered by the kamikaze-type heroics of Ireland’s Judicial Ruling, whose place in penultimate round was under a cloud right up to the day of the race. But turn up he did, took his chance and in the process ruined the chances of Jayfky who was almost knocked off his feet by the wanderlust Judicial Ruling.

COVENTRY get back in the greyhound business on Sunday and the occasion, not to mention the added attraction of 12 open races, promises to attract a bumper attendance, especially with promoter Harry Findlay running a tote with comparatively little take out of all pools, i.e just 14.5% from the win fund.

Every open will carry a win prize of £200 while Coventry are very much looking after the beaten dogs with £45 going to the runner-ups and £30 each to the rest who finish down the field, suddenly greyhound racing has entered the 21st century!

As well as total prizemoney of £3,300 every winning owner will be presented with a trophy so top doggy snapper Steve Nash is in for a busy night!

Champion trainer Chris Allsopp has runners, as do  former champion trainers Charlie Lister OBE and Mark Wallis, while the likes of Barrie Draper and a whole host of top drawer handlers will be represented on the night.

Sunday is a celebration so get to Coventry if you can.