“If this litter doesn’t make it, I think it will kill me” said Rab McNair six months ago. After three of the Feb ’17 litter by Eden The Kid out of Skate On made stunning debuts at Central Park on Friday, the charismatic Jock can add ten years onto his life expectancy.
The first of the latest litter out of the 2017 Dam of the Year (all named after musical Kings and Queens) was King Cash. His 29.29 trial meant his debut would be in A1 but that lack of experience was exposed as he walked away in last place (3.46 sect) and was crowded out of contention to finish last.
The night was heading downhill when Queen Beyonce was even slower (3.49), before hit the inside rail at the first bend. Then, to the absolute astonishment of all within the stadium, she rallied from last place to come through and win the all aged bitches open in 29.49.
Brother King Nelson took his place in the maiden open and was made 4-7f on the basis of three dub 29.00 qualifying trials. He was also last away (3.47) and had the race in his mercy before being marked ‘awkward’ on the run in and finishing second.
Rab said: “It was a shame that the pup lifted his head, but great credit to the racing office for not disqualifying him in his first race. I am not too concerned, he was just very novicey. In fact, in times gone by, I would have been offering the owner of a pup like that good money and hoping to get a bargain. I will take him away and work on him but I think he could be the fastest of the lot.
“But as far as the bitch was concerned, I can truthfully say I have never seen a performance like that in all my years in greyhound racing. (We hope to broadcast the video on Monday – Ed). It was absolutely sensational. I don’t know how many lengths she lost in running.
“The funny thing was, I had kept saying to the boss (Brandan Keogh) how brilliant I thought this litter was and he had brought his family along. I then thought, ‘God, why do you put your self under this pressure?’. But after the race, all he said was ‘that, was unbelievable'”
In addition to the three on public show, King Lennon completed his qualifying with a 28.88 trial before racing. King Sheeran clocked 29.09 in his first four bend trial. King Dillon has 29.06 trial form. King Diamond is a 37 kilo dog who is a couple of lengths slower to date and King Sinatra, who picked up a minor metatarsal injury and will be off the track of a couple of months.
Rab said: “Last night gave me one of the biggest buzzes in greyhound racing for a very long time.”
