“These are the nights that make it all worthwhile. None of it would be possible wiihtout Simon (Senyk) and Brendan (Keogh). They have enough money to buy as many expensive Irish dogs as they want – but they decided to take a chance on breeding and rearing their own pups. Don’t underestimate what a commitment that must have been.
“Or Lib (Liz) spending three nights up waiting for a bitch to whelp down to a point she struggles to walk for a few days. Or the feeding, worming, schooling, registrations and the rest before they even get into a race. But you do it all for nights like these.”
A buzzing Rab McNair was reflecting on a fabulous performance from Queen Joni on her way to the 77th British Bred Produce Stakes victory at Swindon on Thursday night. This is how is how it unfolded. . .
It was appropriate that Jeff Sealey was asked to join the presentation since he was the first one to spot Joni’s star potential.
Rab said: “I sent some of the litter down to Ian Wills and he took them to Jeff’s track at Bicester. They had only been gone about two weeks when Jeff phoned. He asked if I was sitting down – and I feared the worst. He told me that there was nothing to worry about but that we had sent him a champion, a bitch who could win the Oaks.
“I was a bit confused. He told me about a little brindle bitch who had just trialled but I thought he was mixed up. I said, ‘it can’t be the one I am thinking of, she only had her first handslip last week’. He said it was the same bitch. He had put her straight into the traps without another handslip and she had taken off. He couldn’t wait to phone me and tell me.
“He told me to come and pick her up; his job was done. On the day I got there he trialled her again. The funny thing was, there were a couple of the other bitches who went quicker. He was a bit embarrassed, but I did say, ‘maybe the others are pretty useful too.'”
“I should have known he was right. I think he has schooled something like a dozen and a half Produce Stakes winners. He knows a good pup when he sees it.
“But I want to say something about that. I cannot believe that GBGB do so little to help British breeders, particularly with the schoolding tracks. I’ve heard that they want to encourage British breeding so they can make sure of the welfare of the pups from when they are born. Yet they would seem quite happy to let Jeff Sealey’s track close. How are we supposed to school pups without schooling tracks?
“I understand that Star Sports have been doing something to help but if it was one of the stadiums needed some sand, they could go to GBGB with their hand out. It isn’t as though there are plenty of schooling tracks to help, but people like Jeff and David Pruhs do a valuable job for breeders.
“I have a suggestion for GBGB. We have to pay the bond scheme for our pups knowing that I will never get the money back for the bitches at the end of their careers because we refuse to get them speyed. I would be quite happy for that money to go to the schooling tracks.
The next person to play a role in Joni’s career was Tony Collett. He took on Joni for her qualifying trials and her first two races, an A2 at Central Park and a sprint open, both of which she won.
Rab said: “Tony is a shrewdie; he knew what he had. He was so confident about Joni’s ability that he phoned me up in the week before the open and suggested I make plans to bring her home after the race.”
Joni’s dam Queen Jessiej landed the Produce Stakes Final on 20 September 2020 (Alfie and Felix’s older brother Acomb Winston was runner-up).
The daughter of Leamaneigh Turbo and Skate On would go on to contest five Cat One finals including finishing runner-up to Ballymac Tend in the Oaks Final. The plan is for Joni to follow the same path.
So how do mother and daughter compare?
Rab said: “Jessiej was a fabulous bitch for us, but I suggest Joni is more consistent at the traps. You have to bear in mind that she had never even run under lights before Thursday night. I would also say that Joni is stronger; I have no doubts that she will get 500 metres.
“But she is a right character in her own way. Her party trick is to run down the field in a morning and deliberately run into me, just to remind me she is there.
“I’m planning to take Joni, Queen Shakira and Queen Georgia to Perry Barr for the Oaks. There is a possibility too that we will have Queen Dusty back, depending on how she runs at Romford tonight.
“They are all puppies, and ideally I would rather them run against other pups. I had a long chat with Brendan and we did discuss sending them to Oxford for the Puppy Collar.
“The thing is, I am already planning to take (Kings), Memphis, Capaldi and Sydney, plus an Irish pup, Droopys Crisps, and if they got through, you could end up with a lot of them running against each other.”
Other plans for the kennel include a PGR Kent Derby tilt for Fromposttopillar and Havana Bale Out with Warzone Tom, King Ezra, Queen Pink and Havana Top Note all slated to contest the PGR Champion Stakes at Romford.
