How many of you UK readers have been to a coursing meeting in Ireland?

I’m guessing a sizeable number.

But how many have been to see a Trialstake?

My guess – not many.

You see I have long held a theory that the majority of the thousands of Brits who travel to Clonmel every February aren’t really there for the coursing.

Traditionally before the ICC (sensibly) moved the fixtures around, most Brits arrived on the Sunday. The keener ones might make the Sunday open meeting but the rest would spend the afternoon and evening at the track or in the town hostelries before returning home Wednesday afternoon. The banter would be mighty

The Irish Derby is a similar, if shorter, story. Sure, Harolds Cross (RIP) on the Friday, Shelbourne on the Saturday night, but it wasn’t just about the racing. When the BGRB Owners Club was in operation, the Star ran some hugely popular trips to the English and Irish Derby Finals. Owners and trainers mingled in hotel bars and restaurants with a BAGS meeting and kennel visit thrown in. At one stage two coachloads were in danger of overwhelming even the most accommodating kennel.

Dog folk love to get together, eat, drink and generally socialise without the restriction of a late night drive home. It appears to be a universal concept.

The American equivalents are the Spring and Fall meets at Abilene. They do – or did (I haven’t been to one in probably 15 years) attract dog men from all over the USA. There are some long afternoons and late nights discussing the sort of subjects that would be familiar to dog men and women everywhere.

Of course nobody does it quite as well as the ‘supposed’ amateurs. The Owners Club had memorable trips abroad, most notably to Sweden.

Personally, I’ve also had some great trips to Holland and Finland though my personal favourite– previously mentioned – was the European Championships in Soissons where around 10 nations descended for a long weekend.

Lots of faces there. Harry Findlay, Pat Dalton. . . Truly memorable.

 

So where is this going?

Towcester!

While much of the talk around dog folk is ‘will Towcester get the Derby back next year?’, I think that misses the point – big time.

Imagine –Towcester, the whole experience! The plans have been drawn up for potential accommodation for roughly 2,500 people on site for ‘staycations’.

That would include spaces for tents, caravans, plus rented pods, yurts etc etc.

Arrive Friday afternoon, bars and restaurants open with a Friday night meeting followed by a few drinks and socialising until late. Then off to the pod.

Saturday morning, tea and bacon roll in the snack bar and maybe a greyhound sale? A seminar, invited speaker? A top vet? A Q&A with Charlie Lister and Nick Savva? A film afternoon? Saturday night meeting, followed by live music.

Sunday morning – for those who fancied it after a Clonmel-style hangovers, perhaps a breeders festival with a few stud dogs and pups for sale? Sunday lunch in one of the stadium restaurants, possibly followed by some afternoon racing and then home.

Plans for some of the pitches have been drawn up

Just a few ideas building towards complete festivals.

I’ve seen a group of German enthusiasts sitting around excitedly talking dogs with coffees, leading onto beers. Within a few hours, a couple of Dutch have joined in. Then the French, followed by Hungarians and Swiss. If they can do it in half a dozen languages, it is not asking too much to have someone translate Yorkshire into Essex?

Kevin Boothby is in advanced discussions with a nationally successful company, who apart from providing some of the accommodation, would be running activity weekends with canoeing and kayaking in the lakes, archery, zip-lining and a whole mix.

There are obstacles of course – the less fun type. Boothby would also need planning permission – even for temporary building. But imagine what a vibrant busy Towcester would do for the local shops, hotels, taxi firms (for those who would rather take to a hotel bed at 1am), as well as significant local employment!

Think a bit further and whether it is point-to-point meetings or just happy campers, thousand of new faces will be on-site for an introduction to greyhound racing. Take a few over to the on-site kennels or the vets room.

What about the annual awards – screen live by Towcester TV? Or a massive Retired Greyhound Festival? I bet Kevin would even find room for a greyhound museum. And all accessible and affordable.

In my view, there has never been anything close to the unique potential of Towcester in the history of greyhound racing in Britain. It wouldn’t just benefit the track itself, but bring a whole new layer to greyhound ownership.

I am embarrassed to admit to dropping a major editorial bollock last week.

I had received notification that Ballymac Wizard had been withdrawn from the heats of the Gold Cup and replaced by Fight The Power.

Simple enough to Tweet that – except without engaging either brain cell, I added a ‘wink’ emoji.

Before I explain the logic – as an explanation not an excuse – I should add that at no point did it ever enter my head that I was implying there was some kind of dodgy backdoor ploy to get Fight The Power into the competition.

It simply didn’t occur to me.

Even more embarrassing, before that split second of clicking and posting, it didn’t cross my mind ‘so sorry that the dog is lame and connections will be gutted’

I got mullered and rightly so.

As soon as it dawned on me, I apologised and then sent a message to the Buckland Kennel, via Facebook friend Jools Slater, explaining and asking for forgiveness.

So what activity was going on between my ears, beyond a slight breeze?

It was the fact that connections of Fight The Power had gone public with their view that Monmore RM Tony Willliamson had himself ‘dropped one’ by omitting their dual Category One finalist from the 36 acceptors.

Now Tony is a top bloke, and a Whatsapp mate. But having worked in a racing office many decades ago, I know how sensitive RMs are about reserves coming into competitions and embarrassing them. The ‘wink’ was meant to imply ‘we all know what is going to happen now’.

Sure enough, Fight The Power qualified.

So if you are standing in the Monmore paddock and you see a dog with a fifth leg, a third lung and a pair of wings, Fight The Power will have grown them in the last week.

So a lesson learned the hard way.

“Old people like you should know better” says my youngest. “Stay away from social media and Ecstasy”

I watched ‘Live Aid Against All Odds’ the other day. The title is self explanatory, it is a documentary about the background struggle to stage Live Aid back in 1985. The documentary itself is 15 years old.

The bit that particularly interested me was that even though some of the world’s superstar performers and thousands of other volunteers donated their time for free, the Wembley concert almost didn’t take part because the parent company refused to waive the £250K fee to stage it.

Two year later of course, Wembley bought GRA and its chairman Jarvis Astaire became a BGRB director.

So how did those negotiations for more prize money at the GRA tracks go lads?

The funny bit though, was an interview with Astaire and to hear an indignant Jarvis bristle when recounting how he was not prepared to have Bob Geldof ‘using that sort of language’ in his boardroom.

And there’s me recalling a story gleefully told to me by a former GBGB director of Astaire and John Haynes standing with noses six inches apart screaming the sort of language that would have made Geldof blush.

All followed by one of the pair suggesting that the other might want to watch his step if he knew what was good for him. Allegedly!

I am expecting a couple of major announcements in the next couple of weeks. Unfortunately I am not in a position to go into detail, but one relates to media rights, the other to gambling.

If 2020 wasn’t already memorable enough!