We have never really concentrated on the Doncaster St. Leger previously although we have had the occasional runner. But this year we sent our top three stayers and two reached the final.

It is so satisfying to see a young dog like Rubys Rascal come to the fore by winning so impressively on Wednesday. We knew that he always had ability but he struggled a bit through lack of track craft early in his career.

I can remember that he ran in a three-runner final of a puppy race at Towcester and still managed to find trouble. But then there was a night at Sheffield where he showed such incredible pace that I just stood back and thought ‘wow’.

As Kevin, who works for me said one day ‘if he doesn’t go on to win a big staying race one day we are all in the wrong game.’

I didn’t expect it to come so soon but I was delighted at how he ran and showed how much he has learned. There was every chance to make a mistake when the six bitch left a gap open at the last two bends but he went straight through the gap and kept going.

If he stays fit and well, there are many more big finals in him. I think, in the longer term, he may go even further, but at this stage we have to view the St.Leger at Wimbledon as our long term target.

 

At the start of the year I always set out with an ambition, to win 300 opens and reach 1,000 points on the trainers championship. I learned today that we now have 973 points and I would be very hopeful of going past the 1,000 mark with a bit to spare.

I don’t know whether we will make the 300 open wins but hopefully we won’t be too far away. Actually, they matter less than the points because you can never win a trainers championship with individual one-off opens.

I have always viewed the trainers championship as being a bit like putting together a football team. You need a goalie, ideally a hurdler, a couple of full backs (marathon runners) a midfield (middle distance dogs) and my forwards are the stayers.

We haven’t necessarily had the high profile middle distance runners this year with a couple of the younger dogs not quite reaching the levels that we would have hoped for, but there have been some good consistent performances from the seasoned runners such as Clondoty Alex, Calco Flyer and Domino Storm.

It has been the stayers who have done so well for us: the Golden Jacket, Three Steps To Victory, the Regency, the Summer Stayers Classic and now the Yorkshire St.Leger.

As I have said in this column before, this is the time of year when we contemplate which of the kennel stars are coming to the end of their careers and the search for new ones begins.

Apart from Rubys Rascal, I really fancy Garryglass Flyer, who has won his last four, to develop into a top class stayer.

Ian (Greaves) has also sent us over a nice batch of young pups who we are still learning about and hopefully there will be a star or two among them. A quality midfielder would come in handy  . . .

Position Trainer Points W R % TPM
1 M A Wallis 973 202 776 26% £167,930
2 P W Young 607 117 780 15% £114,103
3 S A Cahill 540 88 315 28% £74,720
4 J Wright 428 79 189 42% £53,520
5 C R Lister OBE 339 101 387 26% £62,685
6 K R Hutton 320 99 426 23% £47,430
7 J G Mullins 258 52 351 15% £47,900
8 P J Simmonds 232 65 364 18% £46,215
9 H J Dimmock 202 38 161 24% £27,195
10 K A Macari 199 18 55 33% £31,445
11 K P Boon 194 53 271 20% £30,770
12 P Buckley 185 9 24 38% £45,900
13 H Keightley 183 21 52 40% £52,323
14 P J Rosney 180 42 220 19% £26,085
15 E McNair 177 36 128 28% £21,430
16 R Devenish 160 49 151 32% £21,220
17 P Janssens 154 37 150 25% £27,440
18 D Henry 151 27 89 30% £23,870
19 B Draper 148 43 191 23% £26,255
20 E J Cantillon 137 45 211 21% £15,885

 

I see there is a debate going on about the need to improve racing kennels following the recent Government report.

Our kennels are old and in need of renovation, I reckon it would cost somewhere between £12-£20,000 to get them up to speed. I charge £8 per day in kennel charges and we simply aren’t making that type of money.

I will probably apply for a grant and see whether I get one, though whatever happens, I will find the money.

But, I am very lucky. Without sounding arrogant, we are among the most successful kennels and all we are doing is breaking even as a business.

I am not whingeing, nobody makes me do this job. As my wife Sarah has said ‘You do it because you want to. You would stop if you wanted to’. She is right of course, I absolutely love greyhound racing.

But this isn’t about me. It is about the trainers who aren’t as fortunate as me. I know how hard it is to find wages for kennel staff, but first and foremost it is about their dogs.

The way I hear it, there are kennels that are so short of staff that the dogs don’t even get paddocked or cleaned out regularly.