Trainer Pat Rosney has confirmed that Newinn Yolo has been retired from racing. The Oct ’12 whelp and one-time favourite for the 2015 William Hill Derby has raced just once since going lame in the third round of the event.
Rosney said: “We took him to Merefield Stud today and he covered his first bitch. It was a great mating and we had already tested his semen which was perfect.”
Yolo first came to attention when second (10-11f) to Mill Jolson in the 2014 Gymcrack. He then finished second in the Puppy Plate at Sunderland before landing the Puppy Classic at Nottingham and the All England Cup at Newcastle. Yolo landed the 2014 Top Newcomer and Standard Dog of the Year and was runner-up for the Greyhound of the Year title to Cornamaddy Jumbo.
After running second in the Racing Post Juvenile, he returned to Newcastle to win the £5,000 Pinpoint Stakes at Newcastle clocking 28.27 for the 480 metres. He had won both qualifiers for the 2015 William Hill Derby – 28.19 and 28.03 – before breaking a bone after a collision with Farloe Blitz.
Among his other best times were: 27.33-462m Kinsley, 27.39-480m Sheffield, 28.17-480m Newcastle, 17.45-305m & 29.26-500m Nottingham.
Yolo is a son of Crash out of Little Flutter (Go Wild Teddy-Any Time Soon) and is a litter brother to Olympic runner-up El Pedro. The dam had previously thrown Ladbrokes Puppy Derby winner Newinn Rocket (by Ballymac Maeve) plus the likes of Slick Santiago and Jet Stream Duke. Her most recent litter by Aero Majestic includes recent Shawfield puppy winner Newinn Champ.
Pat Rosney said: “In my opinion, Yolo was one of the best dogs of his era and I was convinced that I could win the Derby with him. I was often asked to compare Yolo and Swift Hoffman and there was virtually nothing between them. Yolo actually finished in front of Hoffman when they met in the Gymcrack and Puppy Classic Finals but it could have gone either way depending on the track, or how they had trapped. If they had run against each other, whoever led would have won, in my opinion.
“Apart from his outstanding pace, the thing that always impressed me about Yolo was his will to win. He was fanatically keen, which is one of the main reasons why couldn’t the condition back into him. He hated being injured. I suppose the race that summed him up best was the All England Cup where he had to dig deep. There are a lot of dogs who have to have everything their own way in races but Yolo wasn’t one of them. He could lead or come from the back but he never gave up.
“We will stand him at stud here for the time being and see how it goes. I am sure there will be a lot of interest in him.”
For further details contact Pat on 07989 697815
