Our lives are normally so frantic that the break from racing has given me the chance to reflect on a few things and take full advantage of the unusual circumstances.
Like everyone else, there is going to be some concern the longer that the lock-down continues. It probably costs around £25K per month to run the kennel – more when we are racing – but in the short to medium term, we will get by.
I have looked at the Government’s options for small businesses but have decided not to furlough staff. There are two reasons for that. Firstly, I wouldn’t want to do that to the staff. Secondly, we are largely a family based unit and if the virus was to strike the family, we would have big problems keeping the kennel operating.
But when all is said and done, my overwhelming view about the whole Coronavirus situation is that everybody should stay safe. These are life and death issues for so many people, including the incredible NHS staff, and greyhound racing will have to wait.
I really do realise how lucky I am. I can honestly say that I look forward to coming to work every single day. Sarah and I sometimes joke that if we were both to have two days off together at home, we would drive each other mad. We work together doing something that we love. Daniel works with us anyway, and Emily is off school and also joining in.
The one element that is normally missing from our day-to-day lives is ‘time’. The lack of racing has given us so many chances to do the jobs that we kidded ourselves that we would get around to, but could never find the time. I think everything on the premises has been steam cleaned, kennels are being painted, and even the vans have been re-fitted with carpet.
The kennels are open nearly 12 hours a day and every dog is being pampered. They are having even longer walks, more times in the paddocks and are being groomed like its Crufts week.
The racers are being kept in excellent condition and are getting a bit boisterous. They are on a high protein food and are desperate to be running. I will guarantee to have at least three in the kennel who would go under the Henlow sprint track record if they were to trial tomorrow.
Some trainers might be tempted to downgrade the feed because they are not racing, though that is something I would never do. The dogs lose condition so quickly and take so long to get it back. And you can be certain that there would be a rash of serious injuries within the first fortnight of returning to racing.
I think we are one of the few outdoor sports that could resume again quite quickly. Greyhounds and golf. I share the view that once the decision is made to resume, we could be racing in a very short time. I think the majority of my dogs would only need one sprint before they were ready to race again.
It is about knowing your dogs. I have dogs here who would quite comfortably run over four bends just two or three days after their first sprint trial. Some would need at least two or three trials, particularly if you wanted to run stayers.
Despite what is often said about this industry, in my career I have never had a track attempt to force me to run my dogs. Walthamstow, Harlow, Romford, Towcester, Henlow. Never has there been a single occasion. That ‘pressure to race’ is a complete myth in my experience.
I have another couple of thoughts about the day when we do return to racing. Firstly, I would like to see any unattached trainer being given the chance to run dogs in graded racing at their local track. I realise that there aren’t many, but the tracks should give them the opportunity. They should also ensure that there are races for dogs of every grade, from the slowest to the top open racers.
Secondly, I dread the thought that tracks would be happy just to keep graded racing. I can picture the argument now ‘we are racing for the betting shops, why do we need open race competitions?’. I’ll tell you why! Because if the tracks don’t cram in some major competitions before the end of the year, Irish breeders will stop producing pups. Then you will see the problems we are in 18 months down the line.
I have followed the debate about seeding. In all honesty it isn’t a subject that I get too hot under the collar about.
I do have some sympathy for the idea that a very small number of dogs are a menace if they don’t get trap one. One of mine that springs to mind is Garryglass Rodge, though there have been others.
The one change I would like to see is the introduction of ‘rails-middle’ and ‘middle-wide’ seeding, though whether it could be made to work, I have no idea.
Besides, I think the bookmakers would attempt to block it. Given a choice, I think they would prefer that we had no seeding at all.
George Curtis was at the end of his training career when I started working with Linda. I have spoken to him a couple of times, though I didn’t really know him.
But as a kid, he belonged to a group of trainers who I always looked up to including Geoffrey De Mulder, plus Charlie (Lister) and Nick (Savva) who of course, it has been a privilege to know.
George certainly appeared to be an outstanding trainer and very decent man. I guess the thing that I most admired about him though was the way he treated his slowest grader in exactly the same way, with as much care and attention, as his top open racers. It is something I have always tried to emulate.
