It might only be a ‘Cat 2’ final, but the Coral Coronation Cup is as good as any Essex Vase or Champion Stakes.
We have two in the final after last Friday’s semis. At one stage I thought we could win all three qualifiers:
The betting has Brigadier Bullet as a 4-5 chance and Chubbys Caviar at around 11-2. If I was making a book, I would have Bullet at around even money and Caviar at around 3-1.
There are at least three/four in the race with very good early. I would expect Chubbys to come away and head to the rail which would leave Brigadier with a clear run.
But this distance is really on the short side for him and we could end up with a similar situation as the Essex Vase where he couldn’t get past some of the early paced dogs. On the other hand, Caviar is unbeaten and I would expect her to continue to improve. But I am really happy with the preparation of both of our two.
The obvious danger is Patrick’s Desperado Dan who looks a very good greyhound. If he leads, we all have our work cut out. Romeo Mandate is running well but can struggle a bit with a lack of early pace. Pink Osteria can lead but barely sees out the trip, while Emers Mist looks a good greyhound and will be staying on strongly.
I took two of our dogs to the vet this week to get them inoculated before joining Tracey Parbery at the Hall Green Greyhound Trust.
We probably have around 15 in the kennels on the waiting list to be re-homed. Only about half are being paid for.
“In the last few months we have rehomed four or five ourselves and Tracey has probably re-homed six or seven. Although Henlow have a good re-homing scheme but there is a waiting list. Also, these were Towcester dogs so I feel I should really make separate arrangements.
Because of the delay between them finishing racing and being re-homed – most waiting lists are normally six to eight months – their inoculations had run out. Goldsmith Slick was 34.4kg when he broke his hock in the Gold Collar in June. Tiffifield Lad was 36.1kg when he broke his hock at Towcester in July.
I weighed them this week and I think its fair to say they have been enjoying life since during their convalescence, Slick weighed 36.8kg and Lad was 37.9kg.
While I was waiting at the surgery in Feltwell, there were some pet owners in there and I think our boys made a very big impression. One lady enquired where she could get an ex-racer from. While it was nice to see, I did feel a bit frustrated that our messages still aren’t getting through.
Firstly, what great animals they are, and secondly, why aren’t these pet owners aware of the Greyhound Trust?
It generally takes six months after a broken hock for a dog to be available for re-homing. The hock is not the problem, but it takes a while for the dogs to walk correctly after muscle wastage. If I could afford to pay someone whose only job was to exercise dogs in recovery, the time period would be several weeks less.
On that subject, Black Farren is due to go home with a friend of the syndicate on Saturday. Bombers Bullet is about six weeks away from leaving us to be re-homed.
I am waiting to see how the injury and euthanasia figures compare when they are released this year.
I expect there to be a spike in broken hocks, due to the very long tough summer we experienced last year. But that should not result in a spike of euthanasias.
I don’t accept that euthanasia being used so widely. I can sort of understand it, without agreeing with it, when a trainer is faced with a £700 bill. But I think the contributions to help pay for the operations take that excuse away.
Personally, I think most trainers would try to find £300 if they were able to claim the other £400. If they aren’t prepared to do so, then consideration should be given to them not having their licenses renewed.
We really need a Code of Conduct in place for trainers because unless we come to terms with unnecessary euthanasias, this industry doesn’t have a future.
We are already looking forward to the Ladbrokes Golden Jacket and Baroness Bullet, who did 35.15 (calc) at Romford (575) this week, is due to trial over 714m at Crayford on Saturday.
Brendan Matthews dog Towcester Story, who won on the Night Of Stars at Shelbourne Park, is also due to go round, which should be interesting.
At some stage next week, I am also hoping to give Bruisers Bullet his first handslip after injury.
