It has been 37 years since Steve Fluin and seven friends bought their first dog with Stan Kennett at Hackney. On Sunday they broke new ground with their first RPGTV Juvenile winner.

The 4-6f Bubbly Apache went from trap six

It is 11 months since Apache made his debut and during that time the former Droopys Touch has raced on average of once a month.

Fluin said: “He hasn’t really had too much go wrong. He went through the Puppy Classic unbeaten at Nottingham. We identified him as a Derby dog and gave him a lay-off before before the Eclipse. He got through to the final and finished down the field from a less an ideal draw. After the race, George Drake identified a slightly sore shoulder, but nothing of too much concern.

STEVE FLUIN being interviewed on Racing Post TV after Bubbly Apache’s Juvenile win. Photo: © Steve Nash

“So we laid him off for the rest of the year and brought him back for the Winter Derby at Monmore. He ran second in his opening heat but his stride shortened along the backstraight and we realised that something was wrong. Sure enough, it was the same shoulder, though again thankfully nothing too serious.”

A sprint trial of 15.78 followed by a 29.05 for the 500m Towcester course, just two spots outside the record, suggested all was well with Apache who came off sound from his Juvenile winning run.

So what’s next?

Steve said: “First of all I would like to thank RPGTV for their sponsorship, and Towcester for making it such a fabulous day. That will probably be Apache’s last race before the Derby. We will give him a few trials, but I wouldn’t be keen to race him.

“The problem is, if we enter him in a trialstake, the racing office will probably seed them, which is something I am strongly against, though most racing managers do it. Given his record we would probably be asked to run against the likes of Thorn Falcon and Coolavanny Shado. In my view, tracks should bear trap seeding in mind, but they should make it a random draw among trialstake entries.”

BUBBLY APACHE wins the RPGTV Juvenile Photo: © Steve Nash

Despite the fact that Apache’s syndicate have only had 11 occasions to cheer him on, the big white and black has certainly given them value for money.

Steve explains: “There is sometimes some misinformation out there about our dogs, but the details are there for anyone who is interested. Like all our dogs, Apache was syndicated 100 ways, including a share for Paul (Young) and myself. Apache was bought from Michael Dunphy for £14,000 which meant that every member paid £140, plus kennel fees. Apache has won the Juvenile Classic (£6,500) and the Juvenile (£5,000) so he hasn’t been an expensive dog.”

The Bubbly Club booked over 100 places in the Towcester restaurant and few could argue that their enthusiasm gave the whole place a buzz. The contingent included some of the founder members from those early days in East London.

Steve said: “Six of the original eight members are still involved. Sadly we lost ‘Big Eddie’ and another member who just got out of the sport. But we have 40 what I call ‘elite’ members who are involved in all the dogs.

“Sunday wasn’t quite as big a turnout as when Bubbly Totti at his peak or possibly Bubbly Phoenix winning at Yarmouth, but the spirit and camaraderie is as strong as it ever was.”

BUBBLY APACHE Photo: © Steve Nash