Saturday was very much a mixed night for trainer Patrick Janssens. On the plus side, two of his three Derby runners qualified for the semi finals. The big downside was the broken hock for the briliant Crossfield Dusty.
Patrick said: “He will be off to (vet) Stefano tomorrow. He is comfortable but I am assuming the worst in terms of ever racing again. In my view, sprinters suffer more than any other type of runner after a broken hock. They lose at least half a length to the bend. If you have a stayer, that isn’t necessarily a problem, but it is in top class sprint company.
“I have no ambition to see him come back as a D3 runner. Besides, what is there left to prove with him? In my view he has been the best sprinter for the lasat couple of years. It will be four or five months off and he will be nearly three.
“We may change our minds after we have visited the vet but at this stage we are planning for him to go back to breeder Brendan O’Shea who may take a couple of litters from him.”
Crossfield Dusty won 21 of his 30 races. As a puppy the son of Droopys Jet and Crossfield Kate went unbeaten through the Scurry Gold Cup and National Sprint and was beaten favourite in the Sovereign Stakes. This year he won the Northamptonshire Sprint and was beaten odds-on favourite in the Golden Sprint Final.
The Towcester haters were out in force on social media following some shock results on Saturday. Patrick would change only one thing about the place, the starting traps.
He said: “I hate them. It is true that there aren’t many real wide runners in training, but whether they are wides or not, they can’t break from trap six. Yes I know that there are hardly any real wide runners, but I am not talking about how they run the bend. I’m talking about the way they come out of the boxes.
“It is true that Paul Hennessy’s stayers bombed out of six and broke the track record. But that doesn’t prove anything in isolation. I have run a lot of dogs at Towcester and think they should melt down those traps and start again.
“It is the same issue that we had at Nottingham, yet Towcester still have a set of the good traps out on the carpark. They were different gear in my view, the same curved fronts like we had at Wimbledon, Coventry and Sittingbourne (Central Park). I have seen dogs devoid of early pace produce flying sectionals because they have come out of the right boxes.”
So what of the criticism of the racing circuit and going?
Patrick said: “In terms of the going, last night was definitely the best it has been, but it wasn’t so bad before. What we haven’t had is injuries. I’ve lost Bockos Johnjo and Crossfield Dusty to injuries there, but overall the number of injuries is very low at Towcester and I’ve had plenty of runners there. There haven’t been many empty traps in the Derby have there?
“As for the circuit, it is horses for courses, like Wimbledon, Walthamstow or anywhere else. It is impossible to create a track to suit all dogs.
“You also need a Shelbourne 600 yard dog to win the Derby in my view. Just look at Paul Hennessy’s two winners, tough warriors who see out the trip.
“In my view, a traditional 525 yard dog will always struggle because of the shape of the track, and it takes some getting used to. It is because the backstraight is so short that many of the 525-type dogs don’t get enough chance to pull away before they are in the third bend. By the time they get to the last bend, the stronger dogs are getting ready to run them down.
“My two, Lautaro and Deelish Frankie would both stay 600 yards and are both warriors which is why they are still there. Lautaro was almost put into the carpark but he kept going to qualify. Aussie Captain is a 525 yard warrior who eventually got caught out. That is what happens by this stage of the competition.
“I have always believed that it isn’t necessary to be the fastest dog to win the Derby, but you won’t win it unless you have that warrior spirit. You just can’t make it to the later rounds on speed alone.
“But that has never changed. The Hawk probably wasn’t the fastest that Nick Savva ever bred but what a fucking greyhound. An absolute warrior who would never give up. I had it with Kilara Lion last year. A 29.40 dog every day of the week who kept going wherever he was. He wasn’t the fastest but he won three Cat Ones. I love those sort of dogs.
“I’ve had dogs in the kennel with more ability but without the heart. I have some now. I train them all the same but you can’t put that battling qualities into dogs no matter how good a trainer you think you are. They are just born that way.”
