PETER HARNDEN: THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF GREYHOUND RACING

If ever there was a year that would highlight perfectly the ups and downs of greyhound racing, then for myself and all of us at Salacres kennels, the year 2019 would be it.

We have experienced the highest of highs and then been brought crashing back down to earth with the lowest of lows.

Primarily we are a graded kennel, we enjoy our racing at Nottingham but it’s the open racing that gives us, like most, the ultimate buzz.

We also enjoy breeding and rearing a few litters and have enjoyed quite some success in taking this route.

We’ve bred and reared a good number of greyhounds that have gone on to be very successful. No competition winners as yet but we have reached a number of big finals and have won a good number of opens and high grade races with our home breds.

Occasionally, we purchase pups at around 3 months old, bring them to our set up and rear them until racing age.

It was this route that we took when purchasing Salacres Punch and 3 litter mates. Mary and John the Portumna breeders from County Galway were kind enough to sell us four of their pups from the mating between Zero Ten (a stud I like a lot) and Portumna West.

Punch was always a stunning looking dog, he was also a dog with real character from a young age, always wanting to nibble away at you in the paddock and generally just being boisterously playful.

Come schooling over at Damian McCann’s it was also apparent that he was extremely pacy. Damian isn’t one for getting carried away so when he tells you a dog has a bit of pace, you take notice.

Upon coming back to us and starting his trials around Nottingham Punch recorded 18.11 (+10) in his first trial over the 305m trip. It was a sign of things to come and was a big reason for us starting his racing career off in the Henlow Puppy Derby.

Though Punch was to finish last on his debut in that competition, he was soon running away with a top grade D1 at Nottingham in 1766 (+20) and from this point on never looked back.

That was to be the first and only time in his career that he was to run in graded company. Punch was to win 13 of his 36 career starts, recording 5 of the top 10 times over Nottinghams 305m sprint trip over the course of the year.

Some effort considering the class of sprinter that is regularly seen over the course and distance!

After Punch run so well when narrowly beaten in a photo finish on English Derby Final night by Troy Bella, then gaining his revenge when winning an almost identical race between the pair on Select Stakes night, we decided that he deserved to take his chance at Shelbourne on Irish Derby final evening.

We’d planned to take him for a trial but unfortunately my mother suffered a fall at the kennels, leaving her in hospital and leaving us with all hands on deck at home.

As such we were faced with a big call as to whether to go without a trial or stay at home. We took the chance, Punch was a tremedously well balanced dog and we felt he could handle the contours of Shelbourne to do himself justice.

Despite running off the second bend and heading onto the home straight in third place, he simply powered up the straight and got there right on the line to pull of a victory that has to go down as the highlight of my greyhound racing life.

Watching him to the pick up Mark picked him up and hugged the life out of him, I know how he felt. When you’ve had these dogs from a young age, they’re not just dogs, they’re part of the family and to see one of your own win on a night as big as the Irish Derby final, words can’t describe your emotions.

After this we had two main targets left with him for the year. Night Of Stars back at Shelbourne and then the National Sprint at our home track Nottingham. We just let him down a little before priming him for a big finish to the year.

On Night Of Stars he finished runner up, he took a flyer from the lids but was beaten in a close finish by a high class animal in Rosbirr Ranger. Punch had done us proud, we were disappointed not to have quite pulled off what would have been a remarkable double on Irish soil, but we were incredibly proud of him.

I bumped into Mick Gollogly, owner of the Dave Mullins trained Troy Bella, at the bar in Shelbourne.

We had a bit of banter over who was the better of the two, all good natured of course. Though we both held stubborn views, I do believe Punch’s clinical destruction of a field in the first round of the National Sprint which included the aforementioned Bella, this run highlighted to me and many other good judges that he’d taken his game onto another level.

He’d progressed and for me had stepped upto the superstar level of Droopys Reel. His semi final run, though marginally slower in time, was probably visually more impressive.

After I went to bed on semi final night you couldn’t help but dream that National Sprint glory was there for Punch, nothing can or should ever be taken for granted. But one more break and I truly believe he would have emerged victorious.

The following morning we got about our business as usual, preparing for a busy morning at the track, pups to school in trials and a busy card of graded runners.

What was to happen shortly after, words cannot describe. Punch would always, without fail, be at his door to greet you. I knew something wasn’t right and upon looking closer Punch was ill, very ill.

We rushed him straight to the local vet for attention. Thoughts had already gone from dreaming about National Sprint glory to just saving our pet’s life.

Whether he was to ever race again couldn’t have been further from my mind. Just pull through Punchy.

Unfortunately chronic hemorrhaging pneumonia (chp) is an illness that is extremely difficulty to stop having a terminal effect once it gets hold.

It was too late for Punch and he sadly passed away in our arms, battling until the end.

Many of you will have read the guidance from the GBGB about keeping your kennels as clean as possible.

I’m a firm believer in this, without fail our kennels are cleaned and disinfected each and every morning and then cleaned as and when required throughout the day.

My sister Gaynor wouldn’t have it any other way, she takes immense pride in how the kennels are kept.

Please though DO NOT BE FOOLED into thinking that a spotlessly clean kennel will prevent a greyhound of your own from suffering from CHP. This awful illness can strike in even the cleanest of environments, a kennel with cleanliness on a par with a hospital could still be struck by it.

I can only hope that some good can come of his passing. I will be supporting those in the sport such as Simon Gower and Richard Payne as much as I possibly can so that we can try and limit the amount of times that this dreaded illness effects anybody else.

At the moment I don’t have an answer as to how Punch picked up this illness, why he succumbed to it in such devastating fashion in such a short space of time, though I will leave no stone unturned to find out. It’s a feeling I never want to experience again in my life and the less anybody else in the sport has to, can only be a good thing.

My one piece of advice to everybody in the sport, love your dogs, show them love and care while they’re here.

Do your best by them and enjoy every bit of success that they bring, it doesn’t last forever so make the most of it while it is with you.

 

 

Heading into 2020 it looks as if it could be yet another year of highs and lows for the sport.

Kevin Boothby looks like providing one of the biggest highs with the planned reopening of Towcester. This is a massive boost for the sport.

Towcester is a terrific venue and under the management of Kevin I’m sure will make itself a lot more viable as a business than it previously was.

Kevin is a mate so I might be biased, but I only wish we’d had him in charge at the likes of Walthamstow, Wimbledon and obviously now Belle Vue. I’d bet good money that the sport would be in a much brighter place than it currently is if he had of been.

Unfortunately on the ‘low front’ planning permission has just been granted by the local council to build on the land of Belle Vue stadium. There has been nobody of the calibre or with their heart and soul in greyhound racing anywhere near the running of Belle Vue.

As such the oldest stadium in the country, the birth place of greyhound racing as we known it here in the UK is heavily under threat of becoming the latest track to close. There are some terrific, true dog people at Belle Vue. They deserve to have been treated much better than they have been over the last number of years.

Simon Walmsley in particular has led a campaign right until the end in order to try and save the track.

Let us hope that somebody can come in and save the track, with planning permission in place it won’t be cheap, however there are people our there with the money, they will always have the planning permission in place for further down the line, hopefully much further.

But in the meantime lets hope something can be salvaged. If not, it would be a huge loss to the sport.

 

I’d just like to wish all of you a very happy and if possible prosperous new year. Let’s all try and pull in the same direction, it really is the only hope that we’ve got of ensuring our great sport has a future.

 

Peter