FROM THE ARCHIVE: LEN PONDER

Lenny Ponder with wife Pat looking on during a Sky interview Photo: Steve Nash

Ten years ago, we ran a series of ‘Off The Leash’ articles in the Star newspaper featuring some of the best known and interesting characters in the game. Although certain aspects of this article will have been surpassed by events, Len Ponder remains of the sport’s most popular figures and a great personal friend. Here is a reminder of how he saw the world in March 2010.

Ed

Moments after Lenson Joker had been beaten in a photo finish for the 2007 St Leger, Len Ponder gave his reaction to the SKY cameras.
He warmly congratulated winning owner Gail May following Spiridon Louis’ victory and wished them luck in their quest to be Greyhound of the Year.
The primary school teacher was taken aback by the generous gesture which also resulted in correspondence to the media in praise of fine sportsmanship.
Ironically of course, a year later, Len and joint owners Tommy Mills and Ralph Lawrence would be taking a similar successful path to the sport’s top award.
Traditionally, the upper classes lay claim to the finer virtues, including knowing the importance of taking defeat with good grace.
Len Ponder didn’t have the benefit of a private education or lessons in etiquette. In fact, it would be harder to imagine a tougher school than the one he was brought up in.
Len was born in Walworth in South London and came into a life of extreme poverty.
It was the early 1940s, rationing was still in operation, and the Ponder family were poor even by the standard of working class Londoners.
Len’s father Cody was a war hero – at least that is what he would tell his grandson Lenny many years later.
Lenny laughs: “I told all my mates at school that my grandad was a commando who killed 38 Germans behind enemy lines with a cheese-wire.”
Young Lenny would later learn that his grandad was in fact one of the London underworld’s most celebrated safe crackers.
Len says: “The old man was always in mischief. He came from a well-to-do family but got into the wrong crowd. He could get into any safe, famous for it.
“He was inside for most of my childhood, long stretches. Yet although he did wrong, he was genuinely a very nice man. He wouldn’t hurt a fly and was fantastic company. When he was inside, they all wanted Cody as a cell mate.
“There were so many stories about his escapades and he was very quick on his feet.
“On more than one occasion he had the old Bill chasing him down the road but couldn’t catch him.
“I remember one episode, it was a bit like one of the silent movies. The copper grabbed him by the jacket, he slipped his arms out of sleeves and did a runner.”
Young Lenny later found out that grandad served briefly on an ack-ack gun in Blackpool but went AWOL and ended up in the glass-house.
Len says: “A lot of the stuff I didn’t know about. I only found out when the old man confided in young Lenny many years later.
“Despite his faults, I thought the world of my dad, who unfortunately is no longer with us.”
With his dad often absent Len spent a great deal of his time as a child with his mum May.
The pair spent most of Len’s early years moving from one rented flat to another as May struggled to feed and clothe her only child. So how would Len describe her?
With just a hint of hesitation, he says “Let’s just say she was an ‘entrepreneur’, a very clever woman who could turn a tanner into a tenner like no one you ever met.
“She had her up times and the down – I remember going to the South of France in 1954 which was like being a film star back then. But she always came through and did her best for me. I absolutely worshipped her.”
Sadly May died as the results of a car crash on the A3 in 1964. She was just 38. Len was absolutely distraught.
Unfortunately, May wasn’t always around during Len’s upbringing and when she was away, he went to live with his aunt Glad and uncle Harry Ginger Gagan.
Len says: “He was the top wrestling referee for the Dale Martin Wrestling promotions and I often went with him.
“As I got older, he even helped out with some wrestling and boxing, when they were short, though I enjoyed my football the best.
“I loved staying with my aunt and uncle. They were honest and very strict but lovely caring people.
“For the first time I even went on holidays. I learned a lot of important values from my aunt and uncle”

When he left school, Len wanted a job ‘on the print’ but the disruption to his schooling left him struggling on the written side.
He said: “I hoped to get a job as a compositor but I failed the English test.
“It was a bit frustrating really because when it came to things like mental arithmetic I was as sharp as you like, but that was little use in that particular job.”
Instead, through another uncle, he managed to land an apprenticeship with the big established glass company Aygees.
He says: “My uncle was very well thought of, or I don’t think they would have taken me on.”
Len soon learned the ropes – though his education was expanded in quite bizarre circumstances.
Back in those days, the teenage Ponder sported a head of bright red hair – and his temper was similarly fiery.
“I could get a bit ‘saucy’ if someone irritated me and I didn’t always do as I was told.”
And ‘saucy’ meant his fists were often as quick as his tongue. ‘Ginger’ could certainly handle himself.
“I kept getting sent back to the firm and every time I went back it was to a different department.
“I learned how to do toughened doors, then lead lights, and glass bricks, it would all come in handy one day.”
He eventually moved onto Chelsea Glass, one of the most reputable glazing companies in London with 150 employees.
It was a defining move in his work life and it could prove a lucrative job for those brave enough and prepared to work hard.
Len says: “I was just about fearless and I remember us getting one job that – if you did it by the book – wasn’t dangerous but was quite slow.
“I had other ideas. I worked out a way to hang out of a window 18 floors up to fit the windows. Because it was budgeted to take so long, I was earning £100 a day back in the early 1960s.”
And there was no shortage of work in Central London by the early 1970s, thanks in no small way to the IRA.
Gradually though, Len started to do some freelance work and he then went into business with a partner who was a highly rated interior designer. The work flowed in.
The pair would end up buying Chelsea Glass and around 25 years ago, Len bought out his partner.
The company has a warehouse, offices and factory providing a wide variety of glass products including various types of window, security glass, mirrors, tables, shower screens etc, for some of the most opulent homes and biggest hotels and companies in England.
Along the way, Len has met many of society’s rich and famous including Stuart Grainger, Princess Michael, Ava Gardner, Margaret Thatcher, Ted Heath, King Hussein of Jordan and in more recent years, the likes of Kylie Minogue.
Len says: “I particularly liked the Queen Mother, a very down to earth woman. She remembered me when I saw her at Ascot some time later. Enoch Powell was also an amazing and interesting man.
“He once said to me, ‘my parents told me always to tell them the truth and they would lie for me if necessary’. It is something that I always instilled into young Lenny.”

Len’s involvement with greyhounds goes all the way back to the early 1950s.
He said: “I’ve always loved my dogs and horses. I went to 33 horse Derbys on the spin and the last 35 Grand Nationals.
“I started going dog racing at Harringay around 1950 when I was a kid. We went all over the place, Hendon, Hackney, Clapton, New Cross, Park Royal.
“One day I was working at the Wimbledon Theatre and I saw some photos of greyhounds on the wall. It turned out that the guy owned them and he fancied one of them that night at Wembley.
“I went along with him and met the trainer Bob Burls. He marked our card and gave up five winners and seven forecasts on an eight race card.
“We went back the next week and kept winning, I thought it was so easy. Then one night I got in too deep and lost everything, all the rent money, the money Pat had put aside for a holiday, the lot.
“In fact, I couldn’t even afford to pay the restaurant bill and had to borrow it from a friend. But I learned by lesson.”
Although Len still enjoys a punt, he knows his limits and mainly backs his own dogs.
He first became an owner back in the early 1960s and soon discovered that the dogs could prove a wonderful escape at times of great stress.
He said: “I remember owning a dog called John L Tracey who was due to race at the old Crayford on the night before my mum’s funeral.
“I had £100 on him with bookmaker Ike Morris and £100 on the tote where I was so silly, I hadn’t realised the price would go down from something like 4-1 to 1-4on.
“He went into the tunnel under the tote board in second place and came out in front. It made me smile, I thought ‘she’s still looking down on me!’
Len dropped out of ownership until the early 1980s but was tempted back after a visit to Walthamstow sales.
The dog proved a disappointment but Len discovered that wife Pat was probably even more keen than he was.
He said: “Pat has been wonderful all the way through. She stopped me betting more than I could afford to lose, but when it came to buying dogs, she has supported me every step of the way.
“It’s brilliant to have her so involved, she probably loves the game more than I do.
“She once said, ‘I’d love to win one of those presentation jackets’ and, thank God, we’ve been lucky enough to win several.”
(As a testament to Pat’s enthusiasm, a slightly tipsy Pat confessed that on the night that Lenson Express was due to contest the Derby Final, she was more nervous than on her wedding day-Ed)
Lenson Billy was the breakthrough purchase. Bought for £4,000, he won the 1997 Peterborough Puppy Derby, Essex Vase, and Gold Collar. After a broken hock he returned to win the 1988 Greenwich Cup.
In ’97 Len and Pat also won the Wimbledon Puppy Derby with Lenson Hero.
Another early champion was Lenson Lad, a brother of Some Picture and almost as quick.
Len recalls: “One night I had Flyer running at Catford and Lad at Wimbledon. I won a good few quid on Flyer, dashed over to Wimbledon where Lad was 1-4f.
“I asked Tony Morris if he would lay me £40K to win £10K.
He said, ‘No thanks Len’, but we’ll have a sportsman’s bet’ so he laid me £500 at even money. Lad duly won easily in 27.43 for the 460.
“I think the world of Tony Morris, a gentlemen and one of the nicest people in this industry. Our thoughts are with him and his family at the moment.”
Lad was eventually re-sold to Ireland where he later sired Greyhound of the Year Tims Crow.
Lenson Blue Boy won a Stanton Memorial when handled by Seamus Cahill. The same kennel also won the Nottingham Puppy Oaks with Lenson Treasure.
In 2000, the late Ray Peacock sent out Lenson Eddie to win the Springbok.
Len also came close to winning the Reading Master with Top Jock, who was second in the 2001 final.
“We wouldn’t call him Lenson because he had already had one name change” recalls Len.
The biggest night ever was on July 10 2008 when Lenson Express won the £40K William Hill Classic, and Lenson Joker, owned jointly with Tommy Mills and Ralph Lawrence won the £20K William Hill Grand Prix.
Sadly, the two joint owners have since dropped out of the greyhound business.
Len remains committed despite the ups and downs of ownership.
He said: “Along with the success there have been plenty of disappointments.
“The most expensive dog I ever bought was Lenson Bertie at £28,000. He could break track records in trials but wouldn’t do it in races.
“Lenson Larsson cost £20k but we wouldn’t stop him turning around in the traps. Another dog cost £7,000 in the sales but broke his back in a trial at Sittingbourne.”
Yet barring severe injury, Len has never had a greyhound put to sleep.
He said: “I couldn’t do it personally and it would kill Pat. She lies in bed at night worrying that they are all okay.
“Lenson Express and his brother Earl are both in retirement at Tony Collett’s kennel. I can’t even have them homed unless they can go together and Pat is satisfied that she trusts the people that they were going to!
“But I’m not arguing. I can’t stand people who want the glory but who drop the dogs as soon as they aren’t winning for them.
“In fact, if it wasn’t for work commitments, I’d have most of the retired dogs at home with me – though Pat would spoil them rotten.”
Looking ahead, among those destined for a comfortable future life is Len’s Derby hope for 2010, Lenson Bolt.
The Wimbledon and Sittingbourne track record breaker is back in training after a short break.
Len said: “The first objective is hopefully to get an invite for the Racing Post Juvenile, and after that we are really only looking at the Derby.
“He is a good dog, but like most of them he likes to lead. If he gets clear he also has terrific back straight pace.
“But he is still someway short of his best, his coat still hasn’t come right. After that, so much of it is down to luck”
So what has Len learned from his experience as an owner?
He said: “I do a lot more research into the dogs than I used to.
“I’m guided by one journalist and have learned the importance of looking for form to stack up.
“You can’t just go on times, look what other dogs were doing on the same night, and more importantly, the class of dog that it has been running against.
“You also want a guide as to the people that the dog has come from, and what it is likely to have been given.
“Then of course you want a trainer who is not only very capable of getting the best out of the dog, but one who is a good judge and who will always tell you the truth.
“There are too many owners paying over the odds for dogs because the trainer has put a big lump on the dog’s price for himself.

Len was one of the first owners to commit himself to the new owners and trainers group, GOBATA.
So what would he like to see the organisation pushing for?
He says: “There are plenty of things that need to be done. The starting point has to be prize money which is lower now than it was 15 years ago.
“Owners are dropping out of the game and if they stop buying dogs, this sport is finished.
“Some of the money could be saved on welfare. In my opinion, the sport has gone totally overboard on it to please politicians. Completely OTT!
“But in my experience, in many kennels over many years, most people in this game put the dogs before themselves. They treat them like royalty.
“Yet it is the trainers who nobody seems to care about. We need the prize money increase so they can charge a decent kennel bill. They work hard and are committed to the dogs, it’s not right.
“I know the tracks are finding it difficult, all businesses are, but some of them don’t help themselves.
“Some of the tracks are just filthy. They are disgusting and there is no excuse for it. It would cost a pittance to get staff just cleaning the facilities.
“I came from poverty where there were very few possessions, but that was never an excuse for lack of cleanliness.
“On the plus side, I have noticed that the tracks are starting to promote themselves better. We get some pretty good crowds there now at the weekends and mainly young people.
“For years it was always just the same faces. They grew older and stopped coming and the numbers went downwards.”
Len is most concerned about the future of his favourite track Wimbledon. In fact, he even made contact with the chairman of the company who own the group, Luke Johnson.
Ponder said: “Chelsea Glass has done work in some of his restaurants over the years, so I e-mailed him and received a reply.
“He said that he wouldn’t normally reply to these type of enquiries, but he saw no reason that racing wouldn’t continue at Wimbledon for the foreseeable future.
“That was 18 months ago, I hope he still feels the say way. That uncertainty is what puts people off buying more dogs. Will we have somewhere to run them?”
Len reckons he is too frightened to calculate how much money his hobby has cost him over the years but concludes:
“I would do it all again – and spend twice as much for the same amount of enjoyment. I love this game!”