THE FIVE MINUTE JACKET -BY STEVE FLUIN

As we approach the start of the 2023 Ladbrokes Golden Jacket, we welcome the following article penned by Steve Fluin, founder of the Champagne Club, in which he recalls the most famous staging of the event. It is a tale of drama, success and loss and is accompanied by some of the scrapbook photos that he has collected along with some of the original pix taken by Steve Nash.

The 2023 Golden Jacket starts at Crayford on Saturday 4th February and we will hopefully have BUBBLY BLUEBELLE & BUBBLY CRISTAL representing The Champagne Club.

Some of you know the story behind my passion to win The Golden Jacket following our victory 25 years ago when Bubbly Princess landed our first Category One trophy only to be cruelly and I still believe unfairly disqualified.

During Covid I started to write about the early days of The Champagne Club and one of the stories was about BUBBLY PRINCESS and I thought you might like to read it as we approach this years renewal. Enjoy, Steve

THE HISTORY OF THE CHAMPAGNE CLUB GREYHOUND SYNDICATE – PART 3 – BUBBLY PRINCESS

It was Monday 20th January 1998. The phone rang but I couldn’t take it as I was in a business meeting in London. Half an hour later I listened to my voicemail but the unknown Scottish voice was impossible to understand so I reluctantly returned the call.

‘Hi this is Drew’ said the voice. ‘Drew who’ I said. ‘Drew Dunlop and I have the next Golden Jacket winner for sale’. Incredibly that phone call began an adventure like nothing else in greyhound racing I have ever experienced, before or since!

Drew was a trainer at Shawfield who also bred his own pups. A fearsome man to many but he was to become a good friend to me. The greyhound in question was called New Farm Lola, a tiny 21.7kg bitch pup that wanted a much longer distance than Shawfield could offer.

Drew was adamant that she was a marathon star but she was unproven and he wanted £5,000 for her. I ask Drew if he would trial her against a Linda Jones greyhound at Walthamstow and that if she went well I would hand over the £5k to him at the track.

Surprisingly he agreed and the two dog trial was booked for Monday 27th January 1998. A few of us were able to be there and what we saw took our breathe away when Lola slipped at the traps and gave Linda’s other dog a big start but she then chased hard catching him just after the 435m mark and then drew miles clear to the pick up. I didn’t hesitate and handed Drew the £5,000 and then Mark Wallis (who was at that time Linda’s kennelhand) took Lola make to the kennels at Lakenheath.

We left Walthamstow with an absolute buzz and as soon as I got home I called Ladbrokes. They were the sponsors of The Golden Jacket which was due to take place in February 1998 and in those days the ante post book was alive long before the entries were known and any non runners were losers so if your greyhound didn’t get into the event you lost your money.

I knew the odds compiler from our previous bets on Bubbly Boy so I asked him for a price on New Farm Lola but of course he couldn’t find her in the betting. He offered me £9,000/£300. I gratefully accepted.

Back at Romford Stadium at the usual Friday night dinner the debate on what we would call her took place and ultimately she was called Bubbly Princess. The boys had all been busy placing bets on her and altogether we stood to win over £30,000. Ladbrokes were informed of the name change and they were not too pleased when they realised they had layed a BUBBLY!

The challenge was on to get her ready for The Golden Jacket with the heats starting in just three weeks. She made her debut at Walthamstow and got into all sorts of bother, finishing 4th but then she went to Crayford over 714m (The Golden Jacket trip) and romped in at odds of 12/1 with John Humpreys ( a real gentleman bookmaker) laying me a £1000/£70 bet.

The heats of The Golden Jacket were a week later on February 16th and based on her win she was accepted and her odds had tumbled to 10/1 for her to land our first Category One competition. I remember driving through Dartford tunnel on that cold Monday evening convinced that she would win but just hoping she would qualify by coming in the first three places but the evening didn’t go to plan.

She missed her break and found trouble at every bend mostly of her own making and with two bends to go she was beaten but fortunately she managed to come 3rd and qualify. Relief and disappointment both flooded me in equal measures and the drive home was awful.

Five days later the drive to the semi finals was very different with four of us in the car all with different views on what the outcome would be but just hoping she would qualify for the final. We needn’t have worried.

She popped out and reminded us that she was a star with an emphatic win and qualification for the final.

The build up to the final was incredible with me talking to Linda Jones and the Club members throughout the week predicting how we would win the final. Tralee Crazy was the odds on favourite but I knew we could lead him and not get caught. All we needed was a clear run as she didn’t like getting knocked about.

The final was held on Saturday 28th February 1998, just five weeks since Drew Dunlop had phoned me. He drove down from Scotland for the race and although at that time there was only a dozen members of The Champagne Club we still took up eight tables of six in the restaurant with more supporters on the terraces.

The race started on time at 12:39pm and was shown live in all the betting shops around the country. Saturday morning dog racing was massive in those days and the place was packed.

First out of the traps was El Onda from trap 3 with the rest of the field struggling for position at the first bend. Somehow Bubbly Princess missed most of the bother and turned 2nd some 6 lengths behind El Onda. The now famous Champagne Club roar went up as we knew that we could catch the leader and it was unlikely that anything could come from behind us. Bit by bit we made up ground and the cheers got louder then as we came off the last bend Bubbly Princess came level then passed El Onda who rallied to stay 2nd with Tralee Crazy finishing strong to come 3rd. (See photo below).

We had won The Golden Jacket, our first big win and everyone was going crazy. Linda Jones, Gill and my two young daughters Grace & Sophie all burst into tears and to be honest so did I. It meant so much to win and not just because with the £7,500 prize money and the ante post bets we would be picking up close on £40,000 which was a lot of money then and still is now.

We were on the podium hugging Bubbly Princess and congratulating each other when over the tannoy came the announcement. ‘Bubbly Princess has been disqualified for aggressive interference on the run to the line’.

Total shock and disbelief followed and suddenly the Trophy and Jacket were taken back and we were asked to make way for El Onda, Owner Mario Lanfranchi and trainer Linda Mullins. At that point Linda Jones burst into tears again as this was also her first Category One ‘winner’ and that started everyone crying again. Steve Nash was hovering taking photos and we found out later that the whole thing unfolded live in the betting shops with quite a few punters angry at what seemed a very unfair decision.

The aftermath of this ‘sensational’ disqualification went on for months. The racing manager was a young Paul Lawrence (now a successful pro punter) who has always stood by his decision although some people suggested that Linda Mullins had protesting very strongly after the race and that possibly influenced his somewhat brave and late decision. El Onda’s owner Mario felt that El Onda had won ‘undeservedly’ and subsequently presented us with The Golden Jacket Trophy which I still have today and it is the only trophy that I have ever personally received and retained. From my perspective I have always believed that the judge’s decision is final so I accepted it gracefully and we actually got a ‘Good Sportsmanship’ award from the BGRB later that year. In fairness the fact that our £30,000 worth of bets were honoured because it was ‘first past the post’ helped soften the blow a bit too.

Should she have been disqualified…No. I subsequently got the video of the race analysed frame by frame and as Bubbly Princess passes El Onda she does turn her head towards her but she never actually made contact and it definitely didn’t affect the result. I think 99 times out of 100 the result would have stood but sadly the record books will always show that that she/we didn’t win The Golden Jacket.

Once the dust had settled Bubbly Princess had to have three clearing trials before she could race again and she passed them with flying colours and although she never won a Category One event in her career she did subsequently go to Rye House and smash the 865m track record by 58 spots for trainer Patsy Cusack which was never beaten up to the time Rye House closed.

Bubbly Princess was the ultimate roller coaster experience and one day we will win The Golden Jacket (maybe this year) and that will finally put the story to rest.