“I decided I wanted a grader for Monmore for myself. Normally I would have dogs, but I was conscious about re-homing her at the end of her career so I asked Michael Dunphy to send me a nice little coloured bitch. I put her around Monmore with no expectations and she did 28.58 in her first mixed trial. I realised straight away that she was not what I thought I was buying.” – writes Floyd Amphlett
When Droopys Fidget went to traps for the Steel City Puppy Derby Final at Sheffield on Sunday night, she already had nothing to prove. But this is what she did.
Since that first trial, Nathan offered the new arrival to Paul Allen and John Gilson, two men who had previously enjoyed success with Kooga Klammer, trained by Dave Pruhs to win the 2016 Romford Puppy Cup.
Nathan said: “Paul has had quite a few dogs from the Dunphys over the years, mainly in Ireland with Robert Gleeson, including Droopys Edison.”
Going into the final, Sheffield Racing Manager Andrew Mascarenhas noted on this site that Fidget had gone backwards on her sectionals prior to the final, a point that was not lost on Nathan.
He said: “I think she can get a bit stale after a few runs on the track I have noticed that she starts behaving differently in the traps. You can see it quite clearly because of her coloour. When she traps well, he gets low to the ground ready to come away fast. The more times she sees the track, she starts to stand up. That is what she did at Monmore in the semi finals and at the same stage at Sheffield.
“But in the final, she was back to her best. In fact, normally she moves out towards the hare from the traps, but on Saturday she stayed low and came out straight which is why her sectional was so good.
“Fidget is a bit of a character anyway. She knows she is good. Once she sees the hare, she refuses to parade. Because of the sampling delays on Saturday, there wasn’t a parade, which actually suited her.”
Next on the agenda is the Seasons Scaffolding Puppy Cup which starts at Hove on Saturday where the entries include sister Droopys Flotilla and brother Droopys Clue, who she is drawn alongside.
Nathan said: “In the write-up could you mention what a fantastic job Sheffield did on Saturday. We were made to feel so welcome. The place is so professionally run; thourugh to the racing office. I even had the replay of the race sent to my phone when I was at the pick-up.”
Connections are known to have taken 6-1 ante post about Fidget at Sheffield, which inevitably leads to the question, how much did this ‘pretty grader’ actually cost?
Nathan prefers not to go public on the actual figure, but will admit that Saturday’s prize money would have bought three Fidgets with a decent chunk of change!
No wonder Michael Dunphy hasn’t slept since . . . .
If ever a kennel could be be described as being ‘on the up’, it is Team Hunt.
Nathan recently took the decision to split the kennel to provide runners between Romford and Monmore. It is a lot of work but with plenty of benefits.
Nathan said: “We have roughly 20-25 at each track plus between ten and a dozen open racers. We can normally make Romford in an hour on a clear run. We have to allow two hours for Monmore, but can do it in an hour and 40.
“There were various reasons for the decision. One of the main ones was the spread of distances. Monmore race reguarly over three distances so even if a dog doesn’t stay 400 metres at Romford, there is a race for it at Monmore. Also, it is hard to get Derby dogs for Romford.”
The biggest boost to the open race strength though came with the arrival of Nic and Amanda Jeal’s racing team. Hopes Paddington clocked 15.25 in a trial at Monmore on Saturday.
He will lead the kennel’s Derby team which will also feature Droopys By Amile, Droopys Google, and Antigua Big syd, who is a litter brother to Derby favourite Fromposttopillar.
Nathan said: “Hopes Paddington will trial again at Monmore on Saturday and then we will start to think about the Derby. I was disappointed with Antigua Sugar not getting through in the Brighton Belle. Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot around for her at the moment. Eventually we will take her back to Romford but there are no major competitions there now until August.”
Owners Paul Allen (with trophy) and John Gilson (with the bubbly). Nathan with his ‘pretty little grader’, Droopys Fidget.
