In greyhound racing terms the difference between ‘good’ and ‘great’ is not winning. It is an ability to produce maximum performance in the face of difficult or changing circumstances. In the semi finals of the Alconex All England Cup, Ice On Fire faced a huge test but beat the highest calibre field he had met to date – and that would include the Puppy Classic Final. In the Newcastle decider, he faced a draw, trap one, that had been responsible for two of his three career defeats (the other defeat was from trap six).
Ice On Fire is a great dog – click on the race result to see why.
Elated trainer Jimmy Fenwick said: “An absolutley sensational run. He didn’t really break from trap one but the early pace he’s got, you can only call it lethal. Ran the bend beautiful, off the second corner he just had to stretch them out and that is what he has done.
“A lot of people, today and yesterday have said, ‘are you nervous?’ and I said ‘I’m not, because the dog, for me, he just has to break’ and that is what he has done. I would say that is his best ever run. But he is just a puppy, his birthday was yesterday and he has crowned it off with a fantastic performance.”
Fenwick confirmed that his runner would now head to the Eclipse. He also thanked his Newcastle colleague Steve Anderson for organising the sponsorship of the event, for this and next year.
The winner’s time was a sensational 28.16 – a time only bettered by four individuals since the Newcastle track was completely overhauled in 2015: Droopys Expert, Droopys Buick, Droopys Verve and Affane Party – all great greyhounds.
It proved a huge night for the Bothal based handler. Just 24 hours after Angela Harrison’s brilliant Cat One led four-timer at Doncaster, the Geordie Jimmy weighed in with . . .
A 323-1 four fold from just nine runners and including three runners-up!
Angela Harrison continued her rich vein of form by landing a double, headed by recent Scurry winner Droopys Reel and Levante Beach in the puppy final.
The Great North Run went to Gary Ferguson’s Zeno with the Angel of the North snapped up by Skywalker Logan’s litter sister Magical Vera. Click on videos to watch replays
