Hove had a good 2015 and the addition of the Thursday BAGS to replace RPGTV has enabled the track do increase prize money.
Corals Head of Stadia David MacDonald said: “Figures were up, only somewhere between 1-3% but we are satisfied. We continue to invest in facilities. We are spending north of £40,000 on ‘Sprinters’ bar and function room which will hopefully make it a worthwhile venue for events, such as weddings, in addition to greyhound meetings.”
MacDonald had previously indicated that he would re-assess the runner situation at the end of 2015. There are no immediate plans to make a new appointment.
He said: “I am keen to keep a mixture of graded and open racing on a Thursday. Overall, nine of our eleven meetings between the two tracks (Romford) are graded. While they may be more attractive from a bookmaker business point of view, I feel we have a responsibility to the owners and trainers to provide a decent level of open racing.
“I am fully aware that most people don’t deliberately set out to breed or buy A6 runners, they want open class dogs if possible and we have to make that facility available to them.”
Jason Heath finished top trainer for the third time in the last four years in 2015.
Originally an owner with Graham Holland, Jason gave up his lift engineering business to work full time as assistant to Tony Lucas. He spent a time with Lance and Pam Burford when the opportunity arose for a contract at Hove.
He took over Fred Lavender’s old Burnt Oak Kennel near Gatwick eight years ago and hasn’t looked back.
He said: “We started out with 14 dogs who were all our own and now have 100 dogs and around 40 owners. Five or six of them are my own, but its not too difficult to get owners at Hove. The facilities are good and so is the prize money.
Jason rates Ballymac Loch’s Derby quarter final exploits as the highlight of his training career to date, and is hoping the dog can put up a big performance in the forthcoming Springbok.
He said: “He did 29.40 in his first trial there and is about fourth in the betting. If he can reproduce his flat form we would be quite hopeful.”
Seamus Cahill’s sprinter Geneva Des (Sparta Maestro-Geneva Kerri, Aug 13) finished as Hove’s most prolific winner in 2015 with 15 victories (10 x 2nds) from 43 races.
Others: 15-Geneva Des, 14-Droopys Thunder, 13-Clonavaddy Rose, Tyrur Celena, 12-Ballinlough Boss, Brother Harry, Golf Walk, Hollyhill Gene, Whileyouwait, Woodmancote Buddy.
We can now reveal the Sizzlerscheyenne is the Hove ‘triathlon’ champion of 2015.
Eight greyhounds won races over three different distances during the year, but combine their best winning times, and Norah McElllistrim’s Sizzlerscheyenne (74.51) just edges Sporting Rebel (74.70) into the silver medal position. Minnies Elena takes bronze
| 275 | 475 | 515 | |
| Factuelstatement | 16.51 | 28.42 | 30.20 |
| Independentjack | 16.44 | 28.12 | 30.34 |
| Minnies Elena | 16.36 | 28.38 | 30.01 |
| My Real Mutley | 16.74 | 27.93 | 30.09 |
| Riverside Beetle | 16.52 | 28.30 | 30.35 |
| Sizzlerscheyenne | 16.26 | 27.74 | 30.51 |
| Sporting Rebel | 16.41 | 27.70 | 30.59 |
| Swift Botha | 16.31 | 27.76 | 30.89 |
Sizzlers Eagle was the most prolific Hove open race winner during the year with nine wins, one more than Swift Watson.
Paul Young was the leading open race trainer at Hove with 46 wins, two more than Kevin Hutton and Seamus Cahill who were tied on 44.
Ace Hi Rumble was the leading open race sire with 36 wins, one more than Westmead Hawk. Swift Erin (My Real Mutley, Domino Storm, Swift Kidman) was top dam.
The dubious distinction of winning the slowest (515m) race in 2015 goes to Raithby Rocco who clocked 32.32 (-140) when winning an A11 on May 29 (when the next four slowest times were also recorded). A better contender might be Smooth Bolt who won a similar grade in February in 32.05 (-30).
Midrange winning times for all grades A1-30.22, A2-30.37, A3-30.39, A4-30.41, A5-30.47, A6-30.62, A7-30.82, A8-30.88, A9-31.00, A10-31.14, A11-31.36, D1-16.55, D2-16.73, S1-41.89, S2-42.18.
PUPS TO FOLLOW
SWIFT JIGGLE bk b (Vans Escalade-Varas Princess, Aug 14)
From the Ian Greaves winner factory, this very young bitch is just completing her qualifying trials for Jason Heath and owner Mark Aljoe and should improve for months to come.
GET ON LAUREN w bk b (Tullymurry Act-Thurlesbeg Deks, Sep 14)
Trained by Seamus Cahill and owned by wife Teresa, this absolute novice found almost a second between her last qualifying trial and winning an A9 on debut. Could be anything.
