The American sporting worlds has a special accolade for its top gridiron football, baseball and basketball stars – the MVP or ‘Most Valuable Player’. On a brilliant Saturday night card at Monmore – featuring some of the best open racers in training – would any greyhound be worth more than Kevin Hutton’s Most Valuable Puppy, Signet Ace?
Ace first attracted our attention long before he had even raced. In fact it was following his first mixed trial when he clocked a stunning 28.08 (calc) for Swindon’s 476m. (The TR is 27.86).
He has since raced three times – winning all three. The first was a 28.22 puppy open at Monmore, followed by a 29.10 at Newcastle and then last week’s heats (All form and videos below).
Kevin said: “I took him to Newcastle for a trialstake planning to run him in the puppy competition but the race was a disaster. A dog hit the inside fence, two were knocked over and he was absolutely battered. Even though he won, I decided to give him a break and a couple of trials afterwards in case his confidence had been affected.
“As far as the heats were concerned last week, I thought it was an exceptional run when you compared it to the Gold Cup. Monmore are working very hard to keep the safe track and that means flooding it before racing. As a result, the trials and early races are usually a bit slower than the later races.”
As one of the most exciting pups in training, there have been a number of enquiries to buy Ace, the biggest to date, £30,000.
Kevin said: “He isn’t for sale. But if that form had been in Ireland, they would have been valuing him at more than that.”
The pup – named after former kennel star Glenanore Ace – is from Forest Natalee’s first litter though he wasn’t at the front of the queue on looks.
Kevin said: “There isn’t a lot to him really. He is around 32.5 kilos and wouldn’t have been the first pick in the litter. When the physio checked him over for the first time I said that we thought he could be a bit special, his response was ‘Really, well he doesn’t look up to much‘. But he is a lovely greyhound to handle; friendly, sensible, he doesn’t have a fault.
“Looking at the final, you would have to say he has a great chance. I am happy with the draw, and considering the heats were his first race in a while, you would hope he would improve.”
Trainers don’t like to compare their dogs, and Kevin certainly wouldn’t attempt to judge a puppy with three races on his card compared to some of the superstars who have gone before.
But on a like-for-like, basis, how would Signet Ace compare with you-know-who, and you-know-who?
Kevin said: “At this stage of his career, you would have to say he is as good as any we have had.”
The kennel are also represented in the Summer Stayers final by likely third favourite Kingsbrook Glynn.
Kevin said: “For some reason Glynn is the sort of dog who goes under the radar but his record at Monmore is exceptional. He has won three or four of those £500 races beating some good dogs including Droopys Live.
“As far as the final is concerned, it looks a fantastic race and everyone in the final will be going into it thinking they have a chance. To win it, Glynn would need to be first or second around the first two bends, and probably have a bit of crowding behind. If he isn’t, he race is probably gone. But he can do that. Why not?
“It should be such a great night’s racing. Great credit to Ladbrokes Coral for putting it together. Where would we be without their sponsorship at the moment?”
There are have been some major comings and goings in the kennel in recent weeks with several of the kennel stars departing to become pets.
Kevin said: “Ballymac Diego is going to a local family not far from here. Lazy Man, who was a cracking sprinter with a lot of open wins, but was hampered by injuries, went into the Wolverhampton RGT. But has already been adopted by a lovely family.”
Perhaps the most high profile departure though is that great racegoers favourite Ballymac Osby. The 38 kilo brindle was of course one of the dogs stolen by travelers for illegal hare coursing back in the summer of 2018.
Now he would fill a sofa! The handsome Ballymac Osby (t4) Photo: © Steve Nash
Osby was abandoned in very poor condition and spent some time on a saline drip but recovered to enjoy a successful open race career including running second in the Racing Post Juvenile.
Kevin said: “He came off lame with a gracilis injury in his last race and will be joining Donna’s parents John and Pat Witchell. I have never known a time like it for re-homing dogs. We don’t have a single dog waiting to be re-homed and a waiting list.”
But the void of open class stars hasn’t taken long to fill.
Among the new arrivals are Magical Ezra, Lovee Dovee, Forest Gold and . . . one other!
Kevin said: “Magical Ezra has come from Pat Guilfoyle who thinks a lot of him. He has only had one trial so far, but did 16.57 in his first trial at Central Park. Lovee Dovee is a litter sister to that Glengar Bale. She also went out of that unraced stake at Shelbourne Park but looks a very decent stayer in the making.
“Forest Gold is a Wildcat pup. He looked very good in trials for the same stake (28.57) but was knocked over in the first round. I think we did well to get him.”
The other intended arrival is Bull Run Norris who clocked 28.75 (-20) on his debut at Kilkenny last week.
Kevin said: “I think that must be the best ever debut by a pup at Kilkenny; it was a fantastic run. He has been bought from Jim Quinlan by Gilbert Anderson. He will be staying in Ireland to continue in the stake but will eventually be joining us.”
It is nine months since the Quinlan/Anderson/Hutton combination landed the Oaks with Bull Run Byte. But Kevin is increasingly concerned over the lack of news about the 2020 version.
He said: “That whole code of racing is completely neglected. There are virtually no decent competitions for bitches. Yet with Irish breeding on the decline, what incentive is there for British owners to pay £8-10,000 for bitches, and then breed with her later?”
