“If you could get a dog like him for £4,000 every time, you’d buy one every day of the week.”
Fernhill Rex picked up his biggest competition to date when landing the Alan Speechley Fengate Collar at Peterborough on Saturday. The white and blue fawn son of Iso Octane and former sprint start Fernhill Jess, produced a faultless run to take the £2,000 decider in 26.34 (-40) for the 435m.
Having started out as an owner with Paul Sallis and Pat Rosney before becoming one of the first owner trainers, Lee Field has never looked back since taking out his greyhound trainer licence last year and none of his dozen dogs have given him more satisfaction than Fernhill Rex.
He said: “I saw him for sale on (website) Greyhound Data. I watched the videos and he had been unlucky but shown a lot of pace in a sprint and had 28.80 on his card at Shelbourne. He has looked well worth the money since the beginning. He won the Northern Flat, was runner-up in the Golden Crest and has some great lines of form including a 28.61 for 480 at Nottingham.
“I’ve owned dogs in the past, as an owner, where you turn up expecting to be beat. With Rex, you know you are usually in with a chance. Although he isn’t a pure sprinter, he has 17.70 on his card at Nottingham, so I am planning an attempt at the National Sprint. He will certainly enjoy the long run to the bend.
“He doesn’t like too many changes with different tracks and different types of traps, so I’ll be taking him there for some trialstakes shortly.”
