I am delighted to see that common sense in being applied by cancelling racing during the extreme heat.
We all know that in countries like Australia and America, they often race in far higher temperatures than us, but the dogs are adapted to it.
Just one example, in the USA the dogs are kennelled virtually on the track so there are no travelling issues.
Travelling and parades are as big a concern as racing. Under normal circumstances, the vehicles, which are temperature controlled, are perfectly okay providing you get decent air flow.
But traffic jams can be a nightmare. The track kennels are normally very good. Henlow’s are excellent.
At home, the routine changes during the very warm weather. We normally start around 45 minutes early, around 6.15am, and all the dogs are let out.
They all get extra time out in the paddocks at the coolest part of the day. They still go out several times during the day but only so they can empty and feel comfortable.
After two or three minutes and they are waiting by the gates to come back in.
Our kennels are made of breezeblock and are cool in the summer and warm in the winter. If we do need to make adjustments, we have fans to put in the passageways, or a couple of radiators in the winter.
In the summer, the dogs also go out in the evening. I will often take some of them for a walk when it is cooler and eventually lock the kennel at about 9.30pm.
I will confess that yesterday was one of my lowest points as a trainer. I had stewards inquiries for two positive samples.
One of them goes back nearly a year and was delayed by the closure of Towcester. The other was at Henlow in December.
Now I would like to make it very clear that I had a fair hearing for both cases and will take my punishment on the chin. The first one was a fine of £250. The second one was £750.
I accept that I failed to meet my responsibilities as a trainer; I just wanted an explanation to be out there as to the circumstances.
The first one was a little graded bitch who tested positive for Dexamethasone. The dog was a minor open race runner who tested for hydroxylated metabolite of Phenylbutazone.
Both substances are painkillers and the doses were barely above the tolerance levels. The stewards accepted my explanation that they were both food chain contamination from using knacker meat.
Both dogs ran entirely to form, as you would expect, because although the substances were detected, they weren’t anywhere near performance affecting doses.
The problem for me was, the rules say that you don’t use knacker meat, so I had no defence.
In mitigation, I had used the same supplier since my first day as a trainer, and Linda (Jones), used the same man before me.
Although he supplied our meat for at least 15 years and I had only ever had one previous positive sample and that was nothing to do with feeding. He was a dog called Droopys Ford who I bought off the internet in the days when they stored samples at point of entry registration.
A couple of months after he joined us he was given a random sample and they found traces of steroid. The stewards then tested the original sample and found the traces were much higher. I was exonerated.
During my 14 years as a trainer, I think I have won 71 Category One races and probably about 60 Cat 2 races. Every one of those winners, and all the beaten finalists have been drug tested. Plus we’ve had hundreds of random tests taken on graded dogs.
Although we use very little meat (and always cooked), like most trainers, I think the dogs benefit by it.
But something clearly went wrong.
In hindsight, I think I know what happened. At some stage last year, it seems that DEFRA changed the rules about meat supply. It actually made the situation worse, not better.
My supplier was struggling to get meat from his usual sources and ended up closing down at the end of the year. I can only assume that before then he had been forced into sourcing his meat from somewhere new. It seems too much of a coincidence.
I know that I wasn’t the only trainer he was supplying and there is at least one other kennel facing a similar inquiry.
It really is so random. The little bitch who tested positive for Dexamethasone had actually had a random test two weeks earlier which was negative.
I guess that if I have learned anything from this experience it is that I wasn’t unlucky, I had been playing Russian roulette and finally lost. Even though I was assured that the meat was fit for human consumption, there could have been anything in it.
How random? It turns out that while I thought I was feeding good quality beef, hydroxylated metabolite of Phenylbutazone is apparently normally only given to horses.
I texted Patrick (Janssens) after Bockos Doomie won the Henlow Puppy Derby to congratulate him. He looks an exceptional pup and one that we were interested in but missed out on.
With breeding continuing to fall, it is getting harder and harder to source top quality dogs and Patrick is now a long way clear in the Trainers Championship.
Our dogs are running below form, at least in my view. Brigadier Bullet is just one example of a dog who has really gone off the boil. I had blood tests taken to see if there is any form of virus.
I even wondered whether the decline is because we have cut back on meat.
But we have been through times like this before and you just have to keep going and wait for it to run its course.
Also, I have to be honest, a few of the dogs have not progressed the way I would have hoped but I haven’t given up on them.
Sometimes you get dogs who you know can run but is just isn’t happening. I remember one very good example from a few years back called Bridge Honcho.
He reached a series of finals at big prices without ever looking like winning them and then almost overnight, he started putting it together. He ended up clocking 29.29 to win the Eclipse Final.
One dog who I am still waiting to see the best of is Antigua Romeo. I am convinced he has more ability than he has shown so far.
But we won’t give up. One year we won the Trainers Championship having been 305 points behind Charlie Lister. Another year when we were successful, we had been fourth on the at the beginning of September and being quoted at 33-1.
And if Patrick does finish top? It couldn’t go to a better bloke.
