“Even before the draw, we knew she had a chance because she was guaranteed, six. Then I saw the draw and realised that one way or another, all the others were badly drawn. Even so, we had very low expectations.” writes Floyd Amphlett
Antigua Sugar had been a 6-1 chance in the ante post market for the Stadium Bookmakers Juvunile Classic and returned 8-1 in the decider. So Nic Jeal, husband of owner Amanda, was not being too negative when assessing her chances. Even post race, he wasn’t getting too carried away.
He said: “Thankfully, she made one of her better breaks and from where she lay behind Ivanexile along the backstraight, I knew that her finish would be in her favour. But I hadn’t given the two a second thought. What a fabulous race he ran! I thought we had won it in the photo even though it was tight. They must have been thrilled with their dog, particularly as an 18-1 shot. As an overall assessment though, nothing will change my view that Rab’s bitch was the fastest in the race and sooner or later she will win something big.”
But reader – we know what you are thinking . . .
So rewind eight days . . . . The PGR Regency Final at Hove and the Amanda Jeal owned Bombardier ran an absolute stormer to come from the rear of the field and fail by half a length to catch Troy Suzieeq.
Rewind another 37 minutes . . . Where the former Amanda Jeal owned Ninja Kerry – recently sold for £4,000 – landed the £10,000 Coral Sussex Cup!
Nic said: “I was told that he wasn’t good enough for what I wanted so we let him go.”
Any feelings to sum up the night?
Nic said: “Let’s just say it was a long ride home (to Devon). After that, and given the traveling and Sugar’s seemingly limited chances at Towcester, we stayed on after a quick trip to Ireland. We watched the Towcester final on a mobile phone in a McDonalds in Cork. In fact, I think Mark (Wallis) has now won three Cat Ones for us, and we haven’t been there for any of them.”
They included last year’s East Anglian Derby Final, a race that was particularly close to Nic’s heart.
He said: “I’m a Yarmouth boy, the Yarmouth Derby was a greater ambition for me than the English Derby at Towcester. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look as though (Antigua) Storm will be back to defend his title. He damaged a tendon behind the wrist and looked to have come back okay but it flared up again. I’ll speak to Mark this week and we will make a decision but I am reasonably sure that his career is over. We’ll find him a nice sofa for the rest of his days.”
The Jeal hopes will switch to Hopes Paddington – who under his previous name of Serene Tiger – was beaten half a length in the Produce Stakes Final at Clonmel. He was beaten a length and a quarter by Signet Ace clocking 28.20 at Monmore in his last outing and has since trialed at Yarmouth.
Nic said: “The Gold Cup and the Yarmouth Derby were too close together. If the Yarmouth Derby had been put back due to the postponement at Monmore, we might have gone for both.”
However the Jeals will not be unrepresented at Monmore with course specialist Bombardier and Antigua Sugar both due to be entered for the Stayers Classic. Sugar will go into the enent have cleared her £10,000 purchase price at Towcester Sales.
Nic said: “She wasn’t our original target, I originally picked out the dog who turned out to be Savana Beau (£12,500). The only thing that put us off was having seen which kennel he came from (Graham Holland), it seemed unlikely that we could find anything more.
“Let’s be honest, most dogs you buy fail to live up to expectations. Sugar has done exceptionally well and we always expected her to develop into a decent stayer over time. But despite all the talk about Monmore, I am yet to be convinced. She isn’t a consistently fast breaker and that will probably work against her at Monmore over the 630. Maybe down the line, Perry Barr for the St. Leger (over 710m)?. But put her in a two dog trial up against Bombardier and it would be him every time as far as I am concerned.”
The Jeal racing team also includes Antigua Hope who “so far has been slightly disappointing”
(Though never say never at Imperial Kennels. Multi champion trainer Wallis has an established reputation for turning exposed ‘nice dogs’ into Cat 1 winners later in their careers (Drumcrow Brent, Rail McCoy and Ivy Hall Skyhigh to name but three).
However, the majority of the 30 plus Jeal owned hounds are still in or near the breeding paddocks. They are headed by stud dog Brinkleys Poet, half a dozen brood bitches plus a number of pups of different ages.
Nic said: “I have 14 Poet pups just about ready to be schooled. Breeding is an expensive business, and I can afford it, but when you get a kennel bill of £3,000 from one trainer, followed by another trainer with a £3,500 bill and another with a £4,000 bill, it doesn’t take long to think ‘steady on’.
” I bought two Pestana pups at €1,500 each. By the time they are both reared, they were into me for €5,000. Sell them both as graders for €1,000 each and you are down €3,000. So I am certainly not getting carried away.”
Among the Jeal brood bitches are Coolavanny Ally, Antigua Sky (dam of a litter by Brinkleys Poet) and Oaks winner Antigua Princess (formerly Ballymac Trend) who was recently mated to Hove 500m record holder Antigua Romeo. Marathon star Antigua Lava is waiting to come into season.
Nic said: “Brinkleys Poet has about a dozen matings in Ireland, we also have straws in Britain and Ireland. I don’t know whether to retire him now to a comfy sofa or leave him at stud. It will probably be the latter though I would want to know precisely where he was before I let him go. There is certainly no rush.”
Nic and Amanda Jeal are massive supporters of greyhound racing and have paid to learn lessons during their time as owners.
So what has experience taught Nic?
He said: “I think you need three things to succeed. A quality greyhound and a top class trainer. But without luck on your side, you are always going to struggle.”
So if you’ve had a few quid on Bombardier ante post for the Stayers Classic and you spot Nic and Amanda Jeal at Monmore on August 27 . . . . . . . it might be prudent to take them for a McDonalds.
