The death of Ernie Gaskin aged 86 sees the loss of one of the great ‘dog men’ of the last 60 years. Ernie (‘senior’ as he will forever be remember) died in his sleep following a long battle with illness.
Ernie Gaskin
Son Ernie said: “To be honest, it was a great release. He has suffered with dementia for the last two to three years and his condition has deteriorated significantly in the last couple of months.
“We knew it was only a matter of time, and it was so sad to see the man he had become.
“Within the last few day realised that the end was near and he died peacefully in his own bed. He went to sleep yesterday and simply didn’t wake up.”
Ernie Gaskin first leapt onto the greyhound scene in 1961 after buying the young Clopook out of the Produce Stakes in Ireland.
The 28 year old businessman, who had only held a training licence for two months, then steered his runner to the 1961 English Derby Final won by Palms Printer. Clopook broke a hock shortly afterwards in a preparation trial for the Select Stakes.
An enforced closure of his kennels in 1963 saw Ernie disappear briefly, but the successful Enfield car dealer soon had a new set-up and a new star in Come On Dolores. A prolific marathon winner, she famously won two races in excess of 1,000 yards in the space of three days.
At the end of her career, Ernie, decided to mate Dolores to the leading coursing/track sire of the time, Newdown Heather. Unfortunately, with brood heavily in whelp, Ernie’s father was taken ill and he offered the heavily pregnant mum for sale. Come On Dolores was bought by three, otherwise little known brothers from Surrey. The litter most famously produced one of the greatest bitches of all time, Dolores Rocket. Another brother from the same litter, the brilliantly fast but quirky Come On Wonder who was later exported to Australia.
Ernie’s next headline making runner was arguably Dancing Dolores who reached a string of major open finals in the mid 1970s. This time Ernie was more successful as a breeder and produced Devilish Dolores, with whom he won the 1980 Oaks and Puppy Oaks.
The period 1980-1990 was a golden era for Ernie Gaskin. His stars included Ballygroman Jim (Laurels/East Anglian Derby), Comeragh Boy (Laurels) Mobile Bank and Kinda Friendly (Cesarewitch), Silver Walk (Essex Vase), Galbally Magpie, Manx Sky and Sail On Valerie (all Regency), Lissadell Tiger (Peterborough Derby) Farncombe Black (Scurry) plus the brilliant Curryhills Gara.
The son of Linda’s Champion went unbeaten to the 1988 English Derby Final but was unable to overcome the trap one hoodoo and finished down the field behind Hit The Lid (Gara’s kennelmate Comeragh Boy finished last in the same final). It would be as close as Ernie could come to winning the big one though there were plenty of successes for Gara though including the East Anglian Derby and Select Stakes.
The kennel’s other big star of that era was Grand Prix and Wingspares Stayers winner Waltham Abbey who duly landed the Greyhound of the Year title.
The kennel also won the first of their three Trainers Championship meetings with victory at Walthamstow in 1988.
In 1992 Ernie retired and handed over the kennel to ‘Young Ernie’ but returned two years later as the latter headed off to extend his experience in the USA. By now the kennel were at Walthamstow and more successes followed courtesy of Chic Mona, Simple Trend, Up And Off, Redwood Girl, Redwood Tiger, Redwood Sarah, Shanavulin Bingo, My Texette, Sadlers Return, Elegant Brandy, Smart Decision, Union Decree.
Ernie jnr had returned in 1996 and the pair made a formidable team. Among the big race winners were won two more Oaks (Flashy Get and Sadlers Return) and an Arc (Hopeful Moment) plus literally dozens of other stakes.
Ernie jnr quit Walthamstow in 2006 to pursue a strictly open race strategy as Ernie snr moved into a well deserved retirement.
In England or Ireland, on the track or coursing field, Ernie Gaskin was admired and respected in equal measure. Ernie suffered fools badly. He could be brash, outspoken, and controversial, but he also set standards that few others could begin to equal.
An exceptional greyhound man.
