I was delighted to see Newinn Yolo among the three nominations for the Standard Distance Greyhound of the Year award.
I thought he had a decent chance as ‘best newcomer’ for which he is also nominated, but as the only winner of two category one events I think he deserves his place. I would be disappointed if he didn’t win the ‘standard’ and would expect a three-way battle with Roxholme Dream and Cornamaddy Jumbo for the Greyhound of the Year title.
Had things gone better in the Gymcrack, where he was unlucky in the final, or in the Eclipse, where he went lame, I think he could have been a short priced favourite.
Yolo has been off for about six weeks now and the shoulder and hip injuries should have healed. We hope to start trialling him back by the end of January, though it is weather dependent.
After a lay-off, I like to give my dogs a few sprints before asking them to go four bends. I am always conscience that some of these pick-ups are a long way from the winning line and it takes time to build up that stamina.
The first major target is the Racing Post Juvenile which is run in early March and I would ideally like about six weeks preparation. After that we will be looking to the Trainers Championship meeting, though I don’t think a sponsor has been found or a venue decided. I suspect it might be Towcester.
I am really looking forward to 2015, we have several new owners in the kennel and a bunch of exciting young dogs. Some have had a couple of races, others have still not been seen in public.
Robert owns Vatican Dino who is a May ’13 pup and half brother to Yolo. Dino did 28.48 for 480m at Monmore in his first ever four bend trial.
He has been beaten in his first three races, but is better than that, and I think he should be worth following.
Robert also owns the May pup Vatican Balotelli (Blackstone Gene-Bower Model) who has won two of his four races and is doing 28.20s at Monmore.
Another of his dogs is Vatican Gurkha who was unraced in Ireland but was originally registered as Lemon Jackie.
Paul Oliver and Steve Pomfrey own Gainstown Beaver who is only small but has 28.79 form on his card at Dundalk and can hopefully progress into a decent dog.
The same people also own Clonkeen Stanley who was unraced in Ireland but was well thought of in his qualifying trials and I am looking forward to find out how good he is.
We have a new set of local owners called the Sporting Fun Syndicate and they have bought Farloe Ziggy.
He is by Kinloch Brae with 27.97 on his card at Derry (500). If he runs as well as he looks I’ll be more than happy – he is a stunning looking greyhound.
Among the older dogs, we have Irish St.Leger finalist Burgess Oscar. He ran Droopys Nidge to half a length at Limerick and has 28.08 form (525) on his card at Cork. We plan to run him in the Maiden Derby at Towcester.
As far as the pups are concerned, I fancy having another crack at the Gymcrack. It hasn’t been a lucky event for us so far, but is has been moved in the calendar and maybe our luck will change.
Pat Rosney
