Greyhound racing has provided me with some great memories over the years, but Tuesday night must rank in the best three or four.

To see Adageo Bob end his career by winning the Mitch Millward Essex Vase will stay with me forever. It was absolutely the stuff of dreams.

I sat up until 3am watching a recording of the SKY programme and I thought they did us proud.

I had spent the early evening with Bob’s owners Dick and Ann Barfoot and they were suffering worse than me. They were an absolute bag of nerves and couldn’t even eat their meals.

My family couldn’t get there because it was a school night, but my wife Sarah watched it on the TV, and could see how overcome Dick and Ann were. Sarah ended up in tears herself.

That’s what greyhound racing can do to you. One night like that can make up for weeks of bad luck and setbacks.

After all the stress of recent weeks, and after visiting the kennel this morning, I am off playing golf.

But I can see the similarity with greyhound racing. You’ll hit 110 bad shots, but remember the one good one and it keeps you coming back.

Looking back, the Essex Vase attempt could so easily have gone wrong on so many occasions. Firstly, when Bob was off-colour before the first round.

We would normally leave for the track at 3.30, but I kept delaying the decision whether to withdraw him or not and finally left an hour late. Thankfully he won, albeit in a slow time, but then made a remarkable recovery.

He was in by far the toughest of the semi finals, with four heat winners, and I wondered whether he would get a clear run.

Then we made, probably the best Essex Vase Final in years. There was no comparison with last year when we had to withdraw him from the semi finals.

But it still wasn’t over because the kennel was hit by sickness between the semis and final and the dogs in the kennels on either side went down with it. You don’t want to move them because that in itself can upset the dog.

Thankfully, the sickness never touched him.

I have no doubts that it was the right decision to retire Bob, even though he is clearly still in fantastic condition. He was four lengths quicker than Swift Whirlwind on the night, and he is a very decent open racer. But like Blonde Snapper, I love to see champions go out on top.

We haven’t made any plans for the future yet, I wanted to get last night out of the way though I am convinced that a stud career surely beckons.

He went to Nick Savva for a mating some time ago, but it didn’t work out. Nick wasn’t too concerned and said he will use him for an AI mating next time. That says a lot to me about the dog’s potential, if Nick wants to use him.

I have had a brief chat with Bob’s breeder John Marriott about Bob standing at stud, though it is too early to say whether that will come to fruition.

Apart from his ability, Bob has a champion’s attitude. Some champions are fanatically keen but not very bright. Adageo Bob is exceptionally clever and knows he is a bit special.

He won’t take any nonsense if the bitch he is with pushes her luck to far, and he definitely has the killer instinct in terms of his determination.

But he is actually a ‘people’ dog, very friendly and incredibly popular with everyone in the kennel.

Hopefully we will have more champions, but there will never be another Adageo Bob.