Yes you’ve got loads of nice kids, but which one is the best? Who is your favourite?
Ask most successful trainers and you’d probably have more chance of them rating their offspring than their open racers.
If you were to put the question to Jimmy Wright or Angela Harrison – to pick the best hound they have trained, don’t expect a straight answer. And it isn’t just because of the number of options.
Even if we make it easier. Just the girls. Droopys Live? Shellam Maebe, Velvet Juliet? Move Over Evie? Droopys Reel? Coolavanny Bani?
Surely it has to be Coolavanny Aunty?
“Well” says Jimmy, with a deep outbreath, “I don’t think we’ve ever had one better. She has won four Category Ones in 14 months. But to be fair to Bani, she would have won four if it wasn’t for Aunty.”
It was 21 months ago when Aunty arrived at Alnwick with five trials on her card. Bred by Shane O’Gorman, she had been snapped up by ‘the Coolavanny man’, Noel Browne. A hugely successful breeder in his own right, the Kerryman has a great eye for snapping up young talent when they are still in the rearing pens.
Jimmy said: “I have been dealing with Noel for many years and he is an absolute gentlemen. He sent over Aunty and Coolavanny Galiv (who was bred by Noelle Divilly), and pretty much said, ‘take a look at them and pay me what you think they are worth.’
Aunty always looked capable. She won an A1 at Newcastle at 19 months, followed by a bitch’s open. She clocked 29.55 in her first trial at Towcester, but one race stands out as the one when she convinced Jimmy that she might be a bit special . . and she was beaten in it.
Jimmy said: “She was in the bitch’s final at Newcastle (Angel Of The North) up against Jaguar Macie, took a real bump early on but came with a fabulous finish to get within half a length of her.”
The daughter of Droopys Sydney also got to within half a length of Bubbly Apache in the Puppy Classic at Nottingham, before picking up her first Cat One, the Empress Stakes at Towcester. Coolavanny Bani was second.
Aunty landed a heat of the Oaks but went out in the second round. It was at that point that Jimmy decided that the black had a future over a longer distance.
He said: “She had a flat spot, between the winning line and the first bend. She could get away with it against lesser dogs. But up against the very best, it was going to catch her out.”
In January, Aunty made the long trip from the Scottish Borders down to Romford for a trial (not something to be passed over lightly) but the experience might just have helped her through the first round where she was beaten in the opening round of the Essex Vase. There were to be no further errors as she saw off the semis and final in 34.87 and 35.25. Runner-up was Coolavanny Bani.
In March she was facing the bracing Norfolk winds where she lead and was beaten on merit by Blueberry Bullet in the George Ing Leger Final.
Jimmy said: “We were beaten fair and square but I did learn something from the experience. She had always been a good traveller but when we went to Yarmouth she didn’t settle at all. I thought about it afterwards and realised that she hadn’t travelled on her own before. Since that night on, we always take another dog with her to keep her company and she has never fretted since.”
Aunty set a new Sunderland 640m track record on her way to the ARC Grand Prix final (adding to the kennel’s sprint and four bend clocks with Walshes Hill and Droopys Trapper), with Bani once again the bridesmaid.
Following the Sunderland win, Jimmy and Angela decided that Aunty deserved a rest.
‘What a mistake that turned out to be” says Jimmy.
Aunty returned to Towcester for a bitch’s competition supporting the Derby but failed to show her best form and was beaten in heats and final.
Jimmy said: “We had her checked over several times and could find nothing wrong with her. Eventually we decided the only option was to run her back into form.”
Aunty ran well below form during the Stayers Classic at Monmore but by the beginning of September, the real Aunty was back in business. When she crossed the line in the GAIN Greyhound Nutrition Three Steps To Victory Final at Sheffield, it was her seventh consecutive race in the frame including five wins.
Although there are a couple of one-offs on the agenda, including the stayers race on ARC Classic Final night at Sunderland, it may surprise many to hear that Aunty’s next major event is planned to be the Bet365 Challenge Cup over 650m at Oxford.
This follows a very public falling out between Jimmy and Oxford promoter Kevin Boothby. Following some issues with the starting traps, Jimmy withdrew Moanteen Lennox from the RPGTV Puppy Collar Final. During interview on RPGTV, Boothby lashed out at Wright for ‘doing his mate’ Rab McNair a favour by withdrawing his runner with the McNair Kennel sending out two runners including the favourite and eventual winner Frompillartopost.
Jimmy was quick to point out that he would be the last one to give McNair a ‘free hit’ in the final. In fact, there would probably be no one he would rather beat than his great friend and rival from the Scottish flaps. Secondly, it wasn’t the first occasion that Wright had felt aggrieved with Boothby tracks. A young Moanteen Mikey had got caught and narrowly escaped injury due to traps opening slowly at Towcester.
Jimmy said: “I don’t have a problem with Kevin. He phoned to apologise and I explained the situation as I see it. We’ve moved on. Providing the traps have been changed by the time the competition at Oxford takes place, we plan to be there.
“I don’t have too many plans beyond that. I won’t make the mistake of laying her off again, and will keep her going until it looks obvious that she can no longer perform at the top level. She certainly won’t be running as a five year old, no matter what.”
Angela and Jimmy have a full kennel and a waiting list of people who want to put dogs with them.
Jimmy said: “We have had an issue with a full waiting list of retired dogs waiting to go out though that has eased a bit. We still have six waiting to find homes and a couple who may, or may not come back after injury. Our biggest problem is that we have several litters of our own pups who we will have to find space for.”
The first of the ’21 whelps are already on the track. By Romeo Recruit, they are out of former kennel favourite Shellam Maebe, five of the February whelps have been racing regularly.
Jimmy said: “They are decent graders at this stage. We’ve had most of them in handicaps to learn their game, and a couple are around the A2/A1 mark. It is difficult to tell when they are so young, particularly if they are going to stay. I had the dam and her brother Shellam Delano from the time they were eight months old and they seemed to have no pace at all. But they continued to get better and better as they got older and Delano was a fabulous dog for us.
“The Eden The Kid/Droopys Reel pups (July) have just started handslipping and trialing at Newcastle. A couple of them broke 18.00 first time in the boxes. The Droopys Live litter by Droopys Sydney and the Ice On Fire/Velvet Juliets (both October ’21) are just on the whirly. They are the ones we have to make space for.
“Of the younger litters, we have King Turbos out of Move Over Evie. They are eight months old and nice looking pups. Maebe has a young litter by Hiya Butt and the first litter out of Coolavanny Bani, three dogs and two bitches by Good News, are a week old.”
Two young Irish imports who managed to jump the Alnwick waiting list are Flynns Porter and Maglass Sid and both should be worth following in the coming months.
Flynns Porter (Droopys Sydney-Wishahowareyou, Mar 21) is a litter brother to Sunday’s 29.54 Puppy Derby Trialstake winner, Makeitkingsydney but has no mark on his card. Maglass Sid (Droopys Sydney-Hawthorn Pearl, Sep 20) won his only race at Tralee in 17.43 for the sprint (TR 17.12).
Jimmy said: “Porter has come from Rachel Wheeler and she reckons he has serious early. Maglass Sid, who is a big 80 pounder has a very fast unoffical at Limerick. They both look very nice dogs.”
In the meantime, the kennels two ARC Classic runners are drawn in the same ridiculously tough semi alongside Jimmy Fenwick’s Select winner Brookside Richie.
Jimmy said: “Brookside Richie is by far the fastest dog in the competition. In fact, in my view, he is a real Derby dog.”
Gain Greyhound Nutrition 3 Steps to Victory winner Coolavanny Aunty with Jimmy Wright, Ian Sutherland and Sean Traynor. – pic Rob Crawford
