ARDBEG MENTOR with Pic Steve Nash
VETERAN Hove trainer Ken Tester, 77, will retire following tonight’s meeting at Hove, although it is expected that he will still be involved in greyhound racing kennels on a part-time basis.
Tester, whose initial involvement in the sport came through greyhound ownership at Slough in 1960, won the 1982 Cearns Memorial at Wimbledon with Kasama Trac and he became a fully-fledged handler in the late-1980s at Canterbury.
Following spells at Reading, Portsmouth, Sittingbourne, Wembley and Catford, he secured a training appointment at Hove in 2003 and has been a popular figure at the Coral-owned track in the intervening years.
Arguably the best greyhound Tester has trained is Ardbeg Mentor – the record-breaking winner of the 2010 Coral Golden Sprint over Romford’s 400 metres – and he also handled the likes of Lady Jean, Aughacasla Erin and Your A Champ.
Tester said: “I’ve had some great times in greyhound racing, particularly at Hove, but I’m taking things a little easier now with my family and I intend to purchase a season ticket at the Amex Stadium to see my beloved Brighton & Hove Albion.”
