‘We didn’t know what to expect from our first Online Auction, in what was a new concept at the time, but to get to the stage where we are looking back at these select pups in a years time is an amazing achievement for ourselves’ says James Corden. ‘And as you’d expect with any pups coming from the kennels of Liam Dowling, a couple of them have ended up being quite special to say the least!’
The biggest achievement by far was that of the little white and black pup pictured on the right. This ended up being a bitch named Ballymac Darcia. Just a Nov’20 whelp bred Bull Run Bolt x Jaytee Pearl, her first official mark was a 29.89 run at Tralee in December.
Nothing sparkling right?
Well….. fast forward to April and she is now the reigning champion of the Future Champion & Michael Fortune Memorial Unraced Stake at Enniscorthy.
A fantastic winner of the prestigious competition from Trap 2 in a time of 28.70, the stunningly marked bitch got her head up just in time to claim the winners 8000 euros prize money in the hands of Enniscorthy local Patrick Whelan. Not 2 until November, she looks to be a great prospect for all the major bitch competitions over the shores in Ireland.
In the Online Auction at the same time was her litter sister Ballymac Run. With just 2 bitches in the litter altogether, both have proved to be above average. Run went into the same competition as her sister and won her first round heat in a fantastic time of 28.61. She eventually went as far as the semi-finals and remains in the hands of Liam Dowling who rates her very highly. With reserves for the both of them set at £2,500, there’s no doubting they’d have been worth the investment at the time!
Ballymac Tego was another pup in the auction, and he was recently sold for £5,000 at our latest Doncaster sales. The brindle dog bred Ballymac Anton x Ballymac Enya stopped the clock at Doncaster in 30.18 for the 483m trip and looks set for an exciting new career in the UK.
His brother Deanridge Bally was the only pup to be sold from the Auction, going for £2500, and he is yet to race with the hope that there is some improvement on his 30.33 and 30.19 trials so far at Kilkenny and Newbridge respectively.
Further pups in the auction ended up being named Ballymac Monk and Ballymac Sona. Only Dec’20 whelps, the Droopys Sydney x Ballymac Shirley pair have qualified in at Tralee in 30.02 and an impressive 29.66 at the tender age of 13 months old.
There was also a pair of black bitches bred Ballymac Bolger x Motorbar Abigail, now named Ballymac Baya and Motorbar Time. Just Apr’21s, these two currently have no mark on their cards but are sure to hit the track soon enough as they try to emulate their older sister Ballymac Trend (now Antigua Princess since being sold privately by Greyhound Trader) and be good enough to win an English Oaks.
Ballymac Bolger was the sire of another pair of bitches for sale out of a bitch named Vida Loca. Now called Ballymac Skyler and Ballymac Ifnot, the pair qualified in 30.15 and 29.93 at Tralee and seem to have been sold on to GBGB owners subsequently.
The last pair of pups for sale were the choice of a dog and bitch from the Ballymac Cashout x Dolcino Rose litter (as seen above) The youngest for sale at the time, these pups haven’t yet turned 12 months old but the Dowling’s have said that ‘these are some of the nicest pups on our yard at the moment and we are very hopeful that there is something special in there. Their sire Cashout was a very fast dog for us and injury cut short what I’m sure would’ve been a great career.’
With a number of the young pups for sale in our very first Online Auction going on to great things in their short career’s, be sure to keep an eye out for the next Online Auction, which runs May 13-15th, where the Ballymac Kennels have committed to supplying some more young pups, just like these, to be put up for auction to the general public.
Along with some additional greyhounds of a racing age already, there is sure to be a good mix of greyhounds on offer for those interested in acquiring their next racing athlete.
Whilst we are exploring deeper into some of the past ‘Ballymac’ greyhounds for sale on Greyhound Trader, it also gives us an opportunity to look at some of those that went on offer within a number of the later staged Online Auctions and what achievements some of these have gone on to record.
- Ballymac Jet – Beaten 3/4l in The Ballymac Cooper @ Stud A3 525 Final at Limerick (worth 3000 euros) in a time of 28.54.
- Ballymac Camino – Now Savana Camino, he was runner-up in the recent Matchbook Maiden Derby at Towcester.
- Ballymac Sputnik – Multiple A1 winner at Central Park including a 29.11 run.
- Ballymac Luckily – Now Bloos Lucky Boy, he is an A1 winner at Monmore in 28.60.
- Ballymac Epic – Now Coosey Hall, he won on debut at Cork in 28.85.
- Illkeepitdark – Finalist of the highly regarded Brownstown Tango and NTSC Unraced Bitch Stake at Newbridge including winning her first round heat.
- Ballymac Lizzy – Won at Tralee in 28.77 before going on to compete in the Suncroft Festival Puppy Oaks at Shelbourne Park.
- Ballymac Fairone – A high class dog who’s continued to run in the major competitions including the Eric Browne Memorial Kingdom Derby in Tralee and the BRESBET Easter Cup in Shelbourne Park. He is now preparing for another tilt at the English Greyhound Derby after going so close last year.
