Winning the the fastest heat of a ‘Cat 2’ competition with a greyhound who hadn’t won a race for a year doesn’t quite compare withing winning the English Derby with a former Romford A4 grader – but Bruno Berwick doesn’t &$€$ing care – he was going to cheer her home anyway.
The bitch in question is Dodgers Drum, who on Thursday night clocked the fastest first round heat of the Coral Brighton Belle at Hove. By any standards, a 29.81 run, on normal going, is a significant run for the 515 metres. When you take into account that the second fastest winner was the mighty Donation (29.87), the quality of the formline is truly endorsed.
What is remarkable is that between October 2017 and a fortnight ago, Dodgers Drum had been to traps on just 11 occasions and had never won a race. Her most recent outing was a defeat in A2 at Newcastle in March.
British bred Drum, a Feb ’16 daughter of Berwick’s Derby winner Salad Dodger and Stuart Mason’s Wee Ellsie, joined June Harvey on September 2 and won her first ever race, on her debut for the kennel, when taking 475m open on October 4.
She finished second in another open a week later, and was contesting her third race for the Hampshire based handler in the Brighton Belle heats (see below).
Joint owner Bruno Berwick wasn’t at the track on the night, but that didn’t stop him supporting her from a computer screen at home.
June said: “He sent me a video of him watching the race, with apologies for some of the language as he cheered her home. It made me smile to hear him so excited.
“I have four of Bruno’s dogs here now and he asked my to take his dogs after watching a film that Julie Collier made when she visited the kennels.
“When Drum arrived she had a calf injury which we treated every day with laser and massage and she soon settled in. She started off as a picky eater, but now is really thriving. I don’t really know how good she is, we haven’t had her that long.
“She has trap two in the semi finals, though she does seem a very tight railer so we are hoping for the best.”
Mrs Harvey has confirmed that following a successful 30.17 (calc) trial at Hove earlier this week, the 2015 St.Leger winner (& 2016 runner-up) Fizzypop Buddy will be trialling at Perry Barr on Saturday night. If all goes to plan, he will be entered in the forthcoming 2018 event.
Buddy’s last race was in a St.Leger trialstake at Perry Barr a year ago.
June said: “He pulled a tendon from the back of his wrist. The operation was carried out by Daniel Doherty using a new stem cell technique. At this stage he looks fine. We are still undecided whether he will trial over the 480m or the 710.
“Some people will criticise us, but Buddy loves his racing and if he shows any indication that he isn’t spot on, we won’t race him. There is no pressure either way”
There is promising news too on the kennel’s other staying star, Clares Kyletawn who chipped a stopper bone in a no-trial at Kilkenny in July.
June said: “We took him to a vet in Stoke for the operation and to begin with, he felt a bit sorry for himself. The vet removed the chip and said it was 50-50 whether he came back. He phoned us recently and suggested we give him a gallop. We tried to restrict him, but he was so excited to be off a lead again, we couldn’t catch him.
“Thankfully he seems fine with no ill effects. But there has been a lot of muscle wastage and I wouldn’t consider trialling him again until next year, probably March, after all the bad weather. Like Buddy, if he doesn’t ever race again, we are not in any way bothered. He will always have a good home here.”
