It is around 340 miles – each way – from home to Newcastle, but that is what is in front of me on Thursday in the Northern Plate on Thursday.
We have six runners and I will have some help at the other end from Jimmy Wright and Dan Brabon who has offered to come with me. We are allowing seven hours journey time. I only wish that they had run all the heats consecutively at the start of the meeting and not put graded races in between.
We took a decision not to travel for trials but hopefully most of the dogs have enough experience and ability to be good enough to qualify. Fingers crossed we can treat the first round as a trial session.
Overall the team are in good shape, though I have done a bit of extra work with King Idol who has disappointed me in his last couple of races. It remains to be seen if I have been able to make any difference.
At the other extreme is King Sheeran who ran a superb sprint trial when beaten a length and a quarter by Bockos Doomie for the Central Park sprint. Doomie clocked 15.98 (TR 15.99) and the two came together at the bend. The dog looks in great shape.
It looks a very decent open race competition and fingers crossed we get something to the final.
Liz is a few points ahead of Angela Harrison in the trainers championship and her kennelboy is not happy at the number of British bred competitions in the Calendar.
I’m told he was trying to persuade the Newcastle management to make it a handicap with the southern dogs made to run off scratch.
We are just back off holiday and left the kennels in the capable hands of my very good friend ‘The Laird’. A top dog man doing a top job.
The dogs are all in great shape, but they were so excited when Liz and I arrived home and walked into the kennel. Ask anyone who works with these dogs, and they will tell you about a special bond that you build. Even more so because all our runners were born and reared here.
That relationship with the dogs can be very strong. King Elvis always wanted to be the centre of attention and could never work out why we might be going racing without him. He would see the dogs being put on leads to go in the van and he would get more and more frustrated.
But he got his own back. On several occasions, he jumped straight onto his bed and pissed on it. He was a very clean dog, and he only ever did it when we were going racing without him.
It was a case of ‘I’ll teach you’
I took five of the Leameneigh Turbo/Skate On litter to Central Park on Tuesday. King Drake, who had been injured, had a handslip. The other four had their first trials from the starting traps.
Queen Lilly was slow away and coursed the hare at the bends and did 17.37. Queen Jessiej did 16.88. King Sam, who is 37 kilos, was very novicey and did 17.06.
The one I fancy as the quickest, King Bruno stayed in the boxes when they first opened and I couldn’t work out what had gone wrong. After what seemed like ages, he suddenly appeared and flew around clocking 17.51. It is no exaggeration to say, that if he had only trapped like the others, I am convinced he would have done 16.50.
I am looking forward now to next week.
We work hard and play hard, and we had a great time on holiday in Tenerife with Jimmy and Angie, Dan Brabon and partner Charlotte.
One of the nights we found ourselves in a place with a mechanical bull. Dan offered me £100 to have a go which I turned down. But when Jimmy offered to double it, how could I say no?
Video director, producer, camera operator and sound recorder: Angela Harrison
