We are just finalising our squad for the Starsports English Derby and at this stage we will probably be bringing over 13 dogs. There is a bit of leeway there with a couple of the bitches being a little behind in preparation. At this stage though, it is all going pretty much to plan. We have runners on Tuesday and four trials. Most of the dogs will need at least one more trial or race.
Most of our dogs are running the track pretty well with the exception of Rural Hawaii. He is a pure wide runner and just can’t cope with the bends. The others all seem to like it. In fact, I think it particularly suits Drive On Tipp. He is a dog who loves to see wildlife but he isn’t that clever on the gallop at home. But the Towcester hare is quite big and noisy and he seems to love it. He broke the track record on Saturday but ran even better than the time suggests after not getting the clearest run and then checking at the third bend.
I have also been pleased with how Sonic has performed. He had a hip problem followed by a damaged TFL muscle so his preparation has been a little bit behind. I was hoping he would do about a 29.60 run and he actually did 29.26, and thankfully, there was no sign of dehydration.
Most of our runners will be quite well known, though there are a couple of young dogs that I think a lot of. Nitro Notorious is one of them. He finished sore in the Con Kirby recently but looks a nice dog.
I am expecting Clares Rocket to come on a bit on Tuesday though I will still want to get another race into him before the Derby starts.He is the sort of dog who thrives on running as he showed last year after reaching the Con Kirby Final and then going through the Produce Stakes.
There has been a lot written about Towcester as a Derby venue. On the negative side, I am not sure that the track needed to be as wide as it is, even for eight dogs, the backstraight is quite short, and it is hard to see the winning line. But it is far better than Wimbledon, chalk and cheese in my opinion.They also seem to have improved their preparation by putting a lot more water on the track. The drainage seems very good and the place is exposed so the track badly needs to be well watered.
I also think the management are great, very forward thinking. I love the way they are promoting the Derby. I was delighted to see that Ben Keith (Star Sports) is sponsoring the event. I have known Ben for many years. In fact, I trained a dog called August Twenty for Wayne Wrighting and his wife when they were owners, and I have a photo of Ben and his father presenting the trophy. I can remember Ben as a bookie at Oxford. I seem to remember taking a few quid off him. In fact quite a few quid over a period of time! He is a great bloke though and a real enthusiast.
The Derby travelling has been tough. It is 800 miles round trip and Nicky has been backwards and forwards with trialists and runners. You have to stop regularly with the dogs to empty, and the journey is around 27 hours depending on the ferries. Last weekend Nicky set off at 5am on the Saturday morning, the races were too late to get the ferry back that evening an she arrived home at 3pm on Sunday afternoon. When you tell people that training is a team effort they think you are exaggerating. Our kennel relies on everyone pulling their weight.
Thankfully the trips will become less and less. Nick (Savva) is kindly letting us have a range of eight kennels, which should be more than enough space, and the plan is to bring over the runners the weekend after next to stay long term. 13 runners will keep me busy and I am really looking forward to it.
