“Every success story is a tale on constant revision, adaption and change”- writes Michael Watts
Richard Branson the famous entrepreneur, balloonist and wearer of woolly jumpers is supposed to have said. If he didn’t, he certainly should have.
Thus it was that so many of the greyhounds that had trialled at Belfast’s Drumbo Park in anticipation of the Laganside venue re-opening were in danger of going out of their time, that it was decided to stage a meeting in advance of the official cutting of the ribbon.
One trainer who in the past sent out plenty of winners at Drumbo commented that with the Brandywell being a ninety-five mile round trip from his yard and entries hard to get at Dundalk which has its own trainers to cater for, he had sold off all the younger dogs in his kennel and turned the older ones out for a holiday, essentially shutting up shop until better times.
With three litters of saplings in the pipeline, he is hoping that the track prospers under its new promoters Run With Passion Ltd. Fortune favours the brave, and a nine-race card was run off in idyllic weather conditions last Saturday, 13th July. There were sadly a few absentees from the ranks of The Usual Suspects, among their number Mabel Blair from Larne, who lost her long battle with cancer scant weeks before the track re-opened.
There were also some new faces, notably two new bookmakers so that a total of six firms were shouting the odds, taking advantage of the temporary lack of tote facilities. The racing surface had been completely re-laid since the stadium closed its doors in January of this year, and although the cognoscenti reckoned the track was running a bit slow, Roll The Tiger, the winner of the first race, a 335 yard unraced contest, was out and gone from Trap 5 to score by twelve lengths in 17:78 secs.
Connections of the July 2017 brindle son of Droopys Jet, which is owned and trained by Kevin Rocks from Newry had a good old-fashioned punt on their fellow who went to traps as the 4/5 favourite,
The time-honoured battle with the bookies was not however to be a one-sided affair, with four dogs in one of the later races being well backed while the eventual winner was friendless in the ring.
Following the recent exposé of all the ills of the Irish greyhound game on Raidio Telefís Éireann, new working practices, such as mandatory pre-race veterinary inspection of all runners, have been put in place at Drumbo Park, putting down a marker that the previous high standard of greyhound welfare at the track will be improved upon.
Relaunching greyhound racing at a venue, where others have tried and failed, may not be a walk in the park, but you have to admire the chutzpah of the new team and the cut of their jib.
No guts, no glory!
