Perry Barr Dog of the Year for 2019 is Limited Option, owned by George Bradnock, Malcolm Bradnock, Vince Frankcom and Mark Oliver, and trained by John Lambe. Unraced in Ireland, the big black is a Tullymurry Act x Phone Lizzie ’17 whelp, and is therefore closely related to Dave Hunt’s powerhouse Sawpit Sensation. Limited Option was an ever present in 2019, winning on 12 occasions from 44 graded races at a strike rate of 27.3%. Connections of this admirable performer have been permanent fixtures in the Midlands greyhound scene for many, many years, and thoroughly deserve their spot in the limelight.
Perry Barr Bitch of the Year for 2019 is Drahbeg Dior, owned by Paul Gebhard and Dorothy O’Raw, and trained by Gerry Ballentine. Drahbeg Dior (the Drahbeg prefix is Paul’s surname spelt backwards) is a March ’16 whelp from the Monasterevin kennels of Ian Greaves, and is a litter sister to Steve Anderson’s classy Bramble Milburn. Originally known as Swift Paris, Drahbeg Dior joined Gerry in July of 2017, and quickly established herself as a talented individual, progressing from A8 grade to A3 within three months. Her 2019 campaign has been a productive one, with 12 wins from an unbroken sequence of 41 races, at a strike rate of 29.3%. A feature of Drahbeg Dior’s year has been her overall consistency, picking up races on a regular basis, and never really experiencing a fallow period, something which plenty of bitches do go through. This speaks volumes about how terrifically genuine a bitch Drahbeg Dior is.
In respect of the Trainer of the Year title, and in a change to recent years in an attempt to reward both quality and quantity, the award has been decided by assigning each contract trainer separate rankings (1-25) for both the number of graded winners achieved and their accompanying strike rate. These have then been added together to arrive at an overall ranking.
Forest of Dean based Jayne Meek is the latest recipient, though rather than having one or two outstanding performers, Jayne’s successful year has been built on consistently good results, with Glorious Poppy (9 wins), Catunda Taya (8) and Urney Jackson (8) making decent contributions to the overall total. Similar Tune contributed some quality with 5 open and graded wins in a truncated campaign. 2019 marks the end of Jayne’s tenure at Perry Barr, as she starts the next chapter of her career at Monmore.
My thanks are extended to Jayne, husband Tony and their team for their sterling efforts and we wish them well for the future. The top five are listed below, with their individual rankings in brackets:
1st Jayne Meek – 127 wins (5) from 589 graded runners at a strike rate of 21.6% (2)
2nd Gerry Ballentine – 171 wins (3) from 867 graded runners at a strike rate of 19.7% (6)
3rd Carol Evans – 241 wins (2) from 1300 graded runners at a strike rate of 18.5% (8)
=4th Simon Deakin – 335 wins (1) from 1963 graded runners at a strike rate of 17.1% (10)
=4th John Lambe – 124 wins (7) from 588 graded runners at a strike rate of 21.1% (4)
Kennelhand of the Year for 2019 has been awarded to Hannah Prince from the Gerry Ballentine kennel. To be honest, we seldom see Hannah at Perry Barr these days. One reason for this is that Hannah doesn’t drive! But the other, and one which is far, far more important, is that Hannah spends all her working hours tending to the needs of the greyhounds under her care at Gerry’s kennel. That includes a couple of litters of pups, to which Hannah has devoted countless hours as they make their way through the first year of their life, gaining the trust and education that will stand them in good stead for their careers ahead of them. Gerry’s kennel has had a productive year on the racing front, and a sizeable proportion of that success can be attributed to the hard work and professionalism Hannah puts in week in, week out, come rain or shine. Hannah has spent virtually all her life around greyhounds, and like a lot of us, the sport is in her blood, with welfare absolutely her number one priority. Hannah is a shining example to others, and we at Perry Barr are very lucky to have her on board.
There were several other highlights during an eventful year:
The RPGTV St Leger was an unqualified success, with a strong entry embellished with a welcome Irish participation courtesy of Brendan Maunsell and Graham Holland, and which produced some thrilling racing. In the winner Redzer Ardfert we have a true superstar, and connections are keen to return to defend their title in 2020.
Our Saturday night opens produced regular good racing, with Henlow’s Carol Grasso making hay courtesy of Jet Stream Proof (6 wins on the spin) and Jet Stream Socks (5 wins incl a 28.28 FOY). Perry Barr’s own Phil Naylor enjoyed plenty of success as well, with sprinter Madabout Rose proving a tough nut to crack in a year which yielded 14 wins in both open and graded contests. Ben Reynolds’ Cronody Zero and Gerry Ballentine’s Drahbeg Dash also stood out by dipping under the 16.00sec (275m) and 40.00sec (660m) marks respectively.
On a personal note, I would like to highlight the exploits of two hounds who returned to the track in 2019 after serious injury, and who have performed with great credit in the circumstances.
Jaguar Jet, owned by John Lawrence and trained by the excellent Pat Doocey suffered a broken hock at Monmore in the Summer, but underlined how well his recovery went by not only making it back to the track, but reaching top grade to boot.
Ooaar Matts Mutt, jointly owned by Matt Garnett and trainer Sue Newberry, broke his hock at Perry Barr in the Summer of 2018. Nursed back to health by his patient trainer, the British bred heavyweight finally returned to the track in the Spring of 2019, and after something of a fallow period, he has currently won five of his last eleven starts, over both four bends and six. Credit indeed to these terrific hounds, and their handlers, for showing such fortitude.
General Manager Martin Fennings added, “2019 ended on a real high with the welcome news of Arena’s takeover, which certainly helped with any uncertainty surrounding the track, and coupled with an extremely busy Christmas trading period, ensured we’re in a good position going forward.
“Great inroads have been made with the track surface and drainage problems encountered last year, and I take my hat off to all the hard work and dedication that Clerk of the Course Johnny Shahban and his staff have put in for this massive turnaround.
“A huge thank you to all my staff, trainers and owners for their continued help and support in what has been a fairly difficult time in Perry Barr’s recent history, and I feel extremely confident that in 2020, we will see the track going from strength to strength.”
