There are few kennels with a better record at Sunderland than Alnwick and the bookies reckon they could extend that reputation on Thursday night.
They have already lifted the Grand Prix four times, most recently, earlier this year with Coolavanny Aunty. The infrequently staged Classic tally includes Droopys Country (2017) and Velvet Juliet (2019).
It does not include Moanteen Mikey – at least not yet – following his second place in the 2021 final behind Narcos The Great.
If he gets beat as the only seeded runner in the 2022 final, Assistant Trainer Jimmy Wright will have no complaints.
He said: “Mikey has a plum draw in six which has worked out in his favour with five railers and his preparation has gone perfectly. He was spooked by someone making a loud noise on parade last year and we have been given permission, as we were at Monmore, to get him up near the traps very early so he isn’t near the crowd.
“Although he has won the All England Cup, he is more of a 450 dog than a 480 runner. In fact, when he has been sprinting it takes at least three or four runs to get him fit enough to see out the 480.”
He is joined in the final by the Gold Cup winner Move Over Cha.
Jimmy said: “The draw really doesn’t suit him. He is draw dependent and he badly wants one, which is what he had at Monmore. He also had red at Sheffield when he was beaten in the photo of the Steel City Cup by John Mullins’ dog (Signet Droopy). He has winning form from three at Sheffield, but it is far from ideal.”
With £10,000 to the winner and £1,000 for others, it isn’t hard to justify the three visits between Stirling and Sunderland to contest the ARC Classic Final.
But making three separate 800 mile round trips to Harlow – as Garry Hamilton did in August? Four x 760 mile round trips to Oxford?
But with no GBGB track in Scotland, Garry represents an intrepid band of ‘Scots diedhards with dogs. Will travel’.
Recalling his Essex excursions Garry says: “I actually set off at 8am in the morning and arrived home at 7am the next day. It was tough enough.”
By comparison, Sunderland at a mere 340 mile round trip is practically local and Garry is doubly represented in the final. (“Travelling these distances, I have to try to double up when I can”)
Tell Boy is actually Durham bred; his dam contested A1 at Pelaw Grand and Sunderland. Garry bought him as a nine weeks old pup and he was then reared in Scotland by Jim Reynolds’ niece Meghan. He began his racing career at Drumbo Park and looked modest enough in his early races.
Garry said: “I brought him over and ran him in the British Bred Maiden Derby at Newcastle and he won a couple of heats leading all the way. But the final was a wet night and he led to the fourth bend but couldn’t get home. That was why we kept him to sprinting. He has surprised me a little bit. I think he has a decent chance because he was quicker to the bend than the favourite in the semi finals and I think whatever leads wins the final.”
Breahmore Patch won just two of his 12 Irish races, the last being a decent, if unspectacular, 28.87 over the standard at Galway. But his UK form is very decent indeed. This is his second Cat One Final having ran third behind Signet Goofy in the Steel City Cup. The son of Ballymac Matt is also the second fastest dog around Pelaw Grange this year.
Gary said: “I originally raced at Shawfield but I didn’t like handicap racing. We took the dogs, including Patch, to Pelaw which was really good. But there are limited opportunities there to get a race so we had to go open racing.
“Patch looks the better of my two over this distance but ideally I would prefer a draw closer to the rail. He goes up straight but will move over to the rails at the bend if her gets a chance.”
Pat Kennedy is another cross border commuter. On most of his journeys to journeys from Glasgow to Newcastle, his travelling companion is Bobby Lindsay, one of the syndicate who owns by Moanteen Mikey and Move Over Cha.
Pat said: “My dog is at the different end of the scale to Bobby’s two. They are very good expensive greyhounds, Gortcloss Pat cost £3,000. But that is just a bit of luck. Overall, the expensive dogs will come out on top. In fact, it was Bobby who suggested the need to put a syndicate together. We wanted to call it the Iron-Bru Syndicate but we couldn’t because of trademarks, so it is the Iron Brew Syndicate. But you’ve heard of the Champagne Syndicate with their ‘Bubbly’ dogs. We’ve got the ‘Fizzy’ dogs.
“Looking at the final, I think we are great value at the 14s or so I saw. Although the one did a faster sectional in the semi finals, our dog still led at the bend. He virtually runs under the rail he is that close and if you can lead around Sunderland, anything can happen.”
Every big final has to have a fairytale entry and in locally bred Hurleys Spring, you have the local hero. (It isn’t just Newcastle that has local heroes).
Trained by Peter Richardson who has five dogs “at the back of my house”, the son of King Elvis was bred by Billy Jobs with the prefix allegedly being in tribute to the Ireland and Sunderland centre forward Charlie Hurley. Spring began his career in A4 at Pelaw before rising to A1, a grade that his dam also contested.
Pete Richardson, who only took out his license five years ago bought Spring and sister Summer from the breeder and has already lived the dream.
He said: “He wasn’t for sale, but the dam and the litter sisters were in season and it wasn’t fair on the dog. Knowing that I would look after him, I was able to get him for £700.
“I have had so much fun with him and I couldn’t believe he could run Breaghmore Patch so close in the semis. I really rate that dog and tried to buy him, but he hasn’t been lucky with the draw in the final.
“But I’m not worried. I’ve had the chat with him and shown him the steak he will be getting if he wins. He was third in the heats, second in the semis. It would be a great night to win his first open.”
Betting: 8-11 Moanteen Mikey, 7-2 Move Over Cha, 6-1 Breaghmore Patch, 7-1 Tell Boy, 12-1 Gartcloss Pat, 25-1 Hurleys Spring
A reminder of last week’s semi finals.
For Sunderland’s biggest night of the year, we’ve got the band back together. Regular readers will recall a period when Sunderland featured on RPGTV and we ran regular Tipsters Challenges. Sam Linley, George Stark and Graham Strike were among a group of regulars. George has since moved onto Newcastle but has been persuaded to pit his wits against his old adversaries on the nine open races. As before, we’ve asked the guys to make a profit from an imaginary £100.
