CONDITIONING/ PREPARATION
“In the early days, I used to go to look at the dogs in the stadium racing paddocks as the trainers prepared their dogs before going on race parade.
“Looking through the fence I would study their condition and see how they were prepared for racing. I soon found that I was watching the dogs of two trainers in particular, Geoff De Mulder and George Curtis.
“I admired George for his meticulous preparation before the race and how he behaved afterwards, win or lose. His dogs were always immaculate. I was a little bit in awe of George and didn’t really get the chance to learn from him.
“It was different with Geoffrey. His dogs always sparkled but when it came to preparing a dog for a specific event, he really came into his own. The coats gleamed and the veins bulged out of the muscles.
“We started to send some of our pups to him when he was at Hall Green and it gave me the chance to ask him about his dogs.
“He was always very kind with his advice, telling you how he trained and fed his dogs. Geoffrey was always a bit eccentric in some of his ways, but in my view he was as good as anyone at ‘doing’ a dog.”
The process of a dog ‘coming right’ is the point where the trainer’s work ends and nature takes over.
In most cases this is in the summer after the dogs have grown a thinner summer coat and are clearly just feeling good about themselves.
Nick says: “The coat is the obvious sign that a dog is blooming, I like mine to shine, but there are other signs in their behaviour if you know your dogs well.
“But you can still have a dog in peak form, even if isn’t visibly outstanding. Since the Derby has been run slightly earlier in the year, many dogs still haven’t fully cast their winter coats. Both Hawk and Lord were still quite wooly when they won their Derbys.
“Although they looked like sheep, I knew that they were both actually in good physical shape as they then proved.”
“Westmead Move was very different in terms of appearance. She always had bare hind legs when she was racing though it all grew back when she retired. It might have been something to do with race stress though she was like it when she was at the peak of her performances.
“For many years there was a theory that bald legs was a sign of a thyroid deficiency. Personally I have had very few problems with thyroids. I believe some of the original thoughts about what was a natural level for a greyhound have since been discredited.
“The best example I can think of for a dog running despite his apparent condition was Linacre many years ago. His coat was always a bit moth-eaten even when he was breaking track records and winning competitions.
“Dogs naturally vary in terms of the quality and thickness of their coat, but don’t underestimate the part played by kennel conditions and environment.
“For several years now I have had heated kennels and keep the temperature at around 16 degrees all year round.
“Before that, the dogs would have deep straw beds, and/or kennel coats to keep them warm. It is one of the reasons that so many flapping dogs, who live in the house have coats like glass.
“A dog cannot thrive if he is outside his temperature comfort zone. Not only do they lose energy keeping warm, in some cases they will pass loose motions if their accommodation isn’t warm enough.”
However, no matter how warm and cosy the dog’s living conditions might be, if there is any significant problem with the long term diet, it also reflects in the dog’s coat.
It was the failure, over many months, of any of the kennel stars to exhibit a beautiful glossy coat, that first alerted Nick to the problems with the processed feed described earlier.
Parasitic infection will also take the edge off the best fed and groomed dog and it is an on-going battle given the open racers can come into contact with fleas in unclean racing kennels.
As a precaution all the dogs are treated with Stronghold or Advocate every two months during the summer.
Fleas inevitably lead to worms and worming is also carried out on the whole racing kennel every two months.
Nick says: “We alternate between Drontal Plus, Milbamax and Panacur, which are all effective. Stronghold is also effective against worms.
“Obviously we wouldn’t worm a dog if he was due to race within the following couple of days.”
Of course the surest indicator of a dog’s wellbeing is his attitude.
Nick says: “How can you describe it in words? They come out of the kennel first thing in the morning with that extra pep in their stride.
“They might be keener when they go out, they might want to tear around the paddock. Sometimes you detect it when they are on parade.
“But every dog is different and you have to know your dogs. Some dogs would exhibit outgoing behaviour irrespective of their overall condition.
“The greatest example I had was Special Account who would go ballistic at the slightest hint it might be a race day.”
It was due to Account’s hyperactivity, that we referred to earlier, that Nick devised an unusual preparation for the 1982 English Derby Final.
Nick said: “He had 30 spots in hand on semi final form and was in fantastic condition. He was beaming!
“In fact, he was a bit too full of himself and I was worried that he would become too hyper before the final so I gave him a private trial around my schooling track and he smashed the clock to pieces.
“I was so confident that he would win the final that I watched the race from near the pick-up ready to collect him after the race for the presentations.”
The history books show us that Nick’s confidence in a big performance was spot on. Unfortunately. . . . Special Account trapped well but was wiped out at the first bend by Killimy Ivy who ran straight across the track from trap two leaving the race at the mercy of Lauries Panther in red.
The Savva runner rallied brilliantly and made fully eight lengths on the leader before failing by a rapidly reducing three quarters of a length.
If the reader ever gets a chance to see the video, this writer defies them to nominate a more unlucky Derby finalist – ever.
Sometimes excess enthusiasm needs to be curbed both in terms of races or exercise.
In Nick feels a dog will benefit from it, he will send it up the gallop on the day of a race. That burst of latent energy just takes the edge off their anxiety and they perform better in the race, though he is keen to stress, only a small percentage of dogs require it.
Cramping is another issue likely to affect performance. In mild form it may result in a runner fading in the latter part of a race or trial.
When severe greyhounds can experience almost total paralysis of limbs as muscles appear to become frozen solid.
Nick says: Cramp is bought on by a mixture of factors which include a lack of fitness, racing in cold weather, and racing over an extended distance
“Some dogs are just born prone to cramp, Westmead Joe was one of the worst sufferers. Others never show signs of cramping. The only solution for the cold weather crampers is to lay them off for the winter
“As I mentioned earlier, both Tom and Special Account suffered from a different type of cramp, brought on by their being muscle-bound.
“Unlike the more common type of the problem, this can just as easily occur in mild weather and is brought on by extreme fitness, not lack of it.
“I have tried just about every known substance to try to offset it, with limited success, and I am still to find something that cures it..”
PRE-RACE
Although Nick might be unfazed by a dog’s weight, there are occasions where energy loss is definitely a factor, and that is when it comes as a result of bad kennellers.
In many cases though, the problems start before the dog even gets to the track.
Because the kennel routine changes little, receipt of a race feed is a sure sign that it is a race day. Cue lots of agitated barking often accompanied by jumping around in the kennel – and it might still be eight or nine hours before they are due to race.
Nick says: “One solution that works with some dogs is to gradually push back the time that we feed them by around 15 minutes per day.
“Eventually the time that they expect to be fed coincides with the time that they will leave for racing and therefore they don’t have the opportunity to fret.
“It isn’t too bad if you are lodging somewhere else, for example when I go to Ireland. But when it happens at home, the whole kennel timetable has to be changed to suit the particular dog.
“The worst culprits are usually the keenest and most intelligent dogs in the kennel. As examples, Sonic Flight and Toms The Best would start fretting if we didn’t change the feeding routine.”
Some kennels are rumoured to give their dogs exotic pre-race feeds including eggs, glucose, sherry and a variety of other goodies.
They may be of benefit, though Westmead success success has been achieved without them. Nick’s race feed is identical to the full meal, just in smaller quantities.
However. . .is it possible that he once stumbled across some amazing pre-race rocket fuel?
Nick says: “Many years ago I took Countville to Yarmouth for an open. I was absolutely shattered when we set off and bought a couple of packs of Dextrose cubes. I thought they might help my energy levels.
“The dog decided that he liked them too, and we shared them on the journey, one for me, one for him. He won by 17 lengths that night.
“To be honest, I was never convinced that the sweets made the slightest bit of difference and I haven’t tried them since.”
For a certain section of excitable dogs though the problems only really become apparent at pre-race kennelling, an ordeal that can, at worst, drag out for more than four hours.
Nick says: “Westmead Joe was probably the worst I have trained for losing weight during kennelling. He would drool very heavily for three or four hours. We have weighed him between kennelling and racing and he would often lose a whole kilo.
“If you trialled him before racing, he was just as likely to break the track record, no matter what the distance, and he often did.
“With bad kennelers it is worse at some tracks than others. For example, at Hall Green, the kennels for any individual race were allocated all over the paddock, which was an NGRC directive.
“But on top of that, the vet would trot dogs up outside the kennels and the runners would be washed down in the same area. If you had a bad kenneler he had one distraction after another.
“I wrote to the general manager Stephen Rea and he made several changes including having the dogs checked outside the paddock, and having them washed down away from the racing kennels.
“The system in Britain is an absolute shambles and there should be a full investigation to alleviate the problem. The Australian and American systems are vastly superior.
“We are still restricted by the old NGRC rules that insist on scattering the runners around the paddock in an apparent attempt to prevent doping. The Austalians and Americans make a much better job of it. Not only is their security better than ours, they don’t upset the dogs.
“Anything you can do to reduce the stress on the dogs has to be in everyone’s interest, including the punters. I have no doubt that many races are lost due to bad pre-race kennelling every year.”
Even the most important races can be affected by kennelling issues. In the 1997 English Derby Final Nick had future Oaks winner Annies Bullet drawn in five.
He said: “There was two-tier kennelling and I can’t remember which was which, but Annie used to freak out if she was in the wrong tier.
“She got herself into a right state and lost her race in the kennels. I’m not sure she could have beaten Some Picture, but I was convinced she could have been runner-up.
Sometimes though a more ‘radical’ solution can be found.
The scene was Milton Keynes. Some months earlier Nick had sold brother Theo a young dog called Westmad Aim for a couple of thousand pounds.
The dog had failed to live up to expectations and Theo demanded his money back. Nick agreed.
A couple of weeks later, Nick entered the rejected dog in a Milton Keynes 620 open only to find that Theo had the favourite and intended to back the dog.
Nick said: “The only problem with Aim was that he was a bad kenneler which I wasn’t aware of when he was sold because he had only been schooled. But when I realised, I came up with a plan to get around it.
“I had a small kennel lad working for me at the time and I asked him to come to kennelling. When nobody was looking, I pushed him in the kennel with the dog and shut the door.
“Instead of fretting up, Aim came out of the kennel as fresh as a daisy and duly romped up at 12-1 beating Theo’s dog.”
So how did Theo take the result.
“He went potty and called me a f$%%ing crooked b%$£%$$” replied Nick bursting into uncontrollable laughter.
“I really didn’t set out to do anything other than teach Theo a lesson about observing his dogs behaviour. But I have to admit, it was funny.”
Westmead Aim was then sold onto the flapping circuit where his kennelling antics were not an issue.
Nervy greyhounds seldom present a major problem – as Westmead Harry amply demonstrated (see Breeding chapter).
Occasionally, extreme nervousness can be used to advantage. The best example was Eureka who joined the kennel in the mid 1970s.
Nick says: “When she first arrived in the kennel she was so frightened that I asked her breeder to take her back. She only cost £1,000 but I was prepared to take a loss on her.
“He wasn’t having any of it. But my brother Theo heard about her and offered to give me what I had paid for her providing I would train her. It seemed to be the only solution so I agreed.
“She was a decent staying open racer, not top class, but good enough in against decent company.
“But we soon discovered that her nervousness had an effect on her racing. She wouldn’t run well first time around a track but when she knew the place would run much better.
“I can remember running her at Walthamstow and she was beaten. But I knew there was a competition the following week. We entered her and she was drawn in a poor heat.
“I said to Theo ‘you can have what you want on’ and they did. They took probably seven or eight thousand pounds off the track which was good money back then.”
The only time that Eureka won first time out was in an open at one of the Welsh flapping tracks.
Nick said: “I knew that a lot of the flaps were very open and I feared that she would panic. I warned Theo that I wasn’t expecting him to bring her home – and he didn’t.
“At the end of the race, which she had won Eureka disappeared into some nearby woods and they couldn’t catch her. They had to go back the next morning when they were able to recapture her.”
Theo eventually decided to breed with the well bred daughter of Spectre who was also a litter sister to St Leger winner Stormy Spirit and top stayer Black Legend.
She turned out to be a cracking dam and threw a string of open racers including Rikasso Pancho.
Sometimes though, the best planned pre-race preparation goes so horribly wrong that the trainer is left wishing he had never left home.
The journey to Ireland for the 1995 Dundalk International provides one of the most interesting lessons in ‘race preparation’ though Nick still has nightmare about it.
He said: “I had been invited to run (Westmeads) Chick and Merlin and decided to do the job properly by giving them each a trial and chartering a plane to fly them over on the day at a cost of £3,000.
“Because of the complications involved, I used the trial session to check that the travelling method would work, flying on a private plane out of Luton Airport. It all went well.
“However, on the day of the actual race, I arrived at the airport with the two dogs in plenty of time and we set off. But after a few minutes we noticed oil streaming across one of the wings. The pilot immediately turned back to Luton.
“The mechanics set about fixing the problem but it took ages. It was a boiling hot day and the dogs were panting heavily. I did the best I could by hosing them down but time was running out and I realised that we had a disaster on our hands.
“Eventually, we got underway and I pleaded with the pilot to make up as much time as he could. He radioed ahead buit with little hope of being in time. We arrived with 45 minutes before the deadline for kenneling and an hour long journey in front of us.
“Michael Keaney had arranged our transport from the airport to the track with his driver called John who drove like a rally driver to make up time. We kept the track informed and they just said ‘keep coming’.
“We arrived at 10 minutes past the deadline. It seemed we wouldn’t be able to run, which I wasn’t too worried about given what the dogs had been through.
“But somebody – I think it was journalist Jason Craddock who had previously worked in the Nottingham racing office – came up with a solution.
“He suggested that the track delay the start of the meeting by 10 minutes which would keep us within the rules.
“Despite the very forceful objections of one Irish journalist, the race went ahead, and much to my amazement, we finished first and second.”
For the 1986 Anglo-Irish race involving Westmeads Move, Wish and Olivers Wish, the charter flight from Luton was cancelled due to bad weather.
Nick hastily arranged a flight from Heathrow and took the dogs over as excess baggage. Despite all the turmoil, the trio finished second, third and fourth making the race a tie.
On yet another trip to Ireland for the heats of the Derby, the road that runs alongside the canal leading to Shelbourne Park has blocked with roadworks. Nick was caught in a traffic jam in the middle of Dublin.
He said: “We were in a car behind John McGee who said, ‘Don’t worry just follow me!’. I have never been on a journey like it in my life!
“We went through red lights, drove over pavements, went around corners on the wrong side of the road, and broke just about every rule of the road.
“We got to Shelbourne late but the track were sensible in delaying the start of the meeting. Larkhill Jo got himself into a bit of a state with all the hassle but still won his heat in a slow time.
“What does that tell you about race preparation? In either case it couldn’t have gone any worse but the dogs still performed.”
The same couldn’t be said for Westmead Hawk who became so agitated when flown over for the Dundalk International that he had to be withdrawn distressed and overheated.
Perhaps the most unusual pre-race preparation concerned Westmead Power who was due to contest an open race final.
Unfortunately, a bitch who was booked in for mating the previous day hadn’t been quite ready. She needed to be mated on the day of the final.
Nick weighed up the options, and rather than let down the breeder, he let the mating take place. Later the same day Power duly won the final.
But if you were looking for the ultimate example of keeping your nerve when the preparations go wrong – where better to look than Derby semi finals.
Nick says: “On the Thursday before the 2006 semi finals, we went racing and left one of the lads to let the dogs out, including ‘Hawk’ and ‘Joe’.
Because it was raining, he decided not to put them out. Both were very clean dogs and held themselves rather than dirtying the kennel.
“By the next morning, Hawk couldn’t pass water and I had to cathetorize him. Joe developed the $hits and everything just passed straight through him. Thankfully we managed to nurse them through and they both qualified.”
POST RACE CARE
Occasionally problems arise with inflammation of the urinary tract which results in dogs retaining water. Droopys Merson had problems passing water, as did Westmead Hawk, though the worst was probably Toms The Best.
In fact Nick had been aware of the problem with several sons of Frightful Flash, including Droopys Merson – though fortunately, not with Sonic Flight.
In most cases, water retention is set off by the stress of a race or trial. So how did he tackle the problem?
Nick says: “All my dogs have access to fresh water in their kennel. Years ago many trainers fed sloppy foods and didn’t think it was necessary to have drinking water readily available, but I think it is vital. For a time we also had water in the small paddocks but it soon goes rancid so we don’t bother any more.
“It is important to keep the dogs kidneys flushed and we give electrolytes before and after racing.
“Of course, one of the biggest problems is that the best dogs are always very clean and don’t like to soil their kennel.
“So those that struggle to empty their systems after racing are kennelled for that night in a kennel with access to an outside run. I would also reduce the size of the feed when they get home and make up for it the next day.
“If things get really bad then I would catheterise them. We also use an injectable drug called Bascoban that helps relax the bladder muscles.”
INJURIES
Every trainer has faced the dilemma of a dog not running well but there has to be a reason for it.
Even before he has had the chance to lay hands on the dog, Nick will have considered some of the common factors associated with the race itself.
Nick says: “There are at least a couple of dozen possible reasons for a disappointing performance. Some of them will naturally relate to your assessment of his fitness as mentioned earlier.
“But you might also question whether the track suits him? Does he run the hare? Does the going suit him? Is there variation between the rails and wide? Is he an ‘in and out’ performer, or a confirmed front runner?
“If none of those queries provide a satisfactory answer, the most likely reason for a disappointing performance will be an injury.
“We check our dogs the morning after every race or trial, irrespective of whether they appear lame or not, and whether they have won or not.
“Many injuries occur after the race though obviously you tend to be less concerned about a dog who has run well than one who has underperformed for no obvious reason.
“Nor is it unusual to find injuries on dogs which are apparently walking sound.
“To check the dog over we use the technique developed by Jim Gannon and were taught it by Plunket Devlin who trained with Gannon. We have adapted it only slightly over the years. I can see no point in trying to describe it in this book since I wouldn’t do it any better than Jim Gannon in the book ‘Car of the Racing and Retired Greyhound.’”
Nick takes around five minutes to check a dog and works in meticulous and methodical fashion.
Nails, toes, pads, tendons, joints, muscles and bones are examined for irregularities and flexibility while looking for any signs of discomfort.
So what goes through Nick’s mind at each stage of the examination?
Feet “Things like web damage and bruised and broken toes should be obvious. In general toe injuries are less of a problem than when we raced on grass.
“We sometimes get strained ligaments on either side of the toe. Either injury would probably mean a two to three week lay-off. Depending on the severity, I would also cut back the nail to take pressure off that toe. It is very rare for toe problems to develop into something much more complicated, though it can happen as we discovered to our cost with Westmead Lord.
“The initial injury occurred when he was a pup. The end joint was damaged and never fully recovered recover. We managed to get through the first Derby but eventually we had to have the joint taken off because it was still giving him some discomfort.
“In hindsight, his career was already over. We eventually had another joint removed, but that also failed to heal to a point where it didn’t irritate him, and eventually it cost him his career.”
Wrists “If I get any reaction to flexing the wrist I always fear the worst. There are two major types of wrist injury, sprains and breaks. In the case of sprain, it is inevitably many weeks off racing. The only real treatment is rest and daily massage with a good liniment.
“In severe cases, I will sometimes have the wrist injected and have found Carpofen to be the best I have used.
“Bone damage, including the detaching of tendons within the wrist are just about as bad as it gets. The only option is surgery by a top class veterinary surgeon. These sort of operations are notoriously difficult. Realistically, the odds are massively against you.
“Yet I can also recall wrist injuries that just defy logic. Many years ago Frank Baldwin trained a dog called Say Little who walked off lame on either a wrist or shoulder after every time he raced.
“Yet a few days later he would be back sound and ready to go again. He went on to finish third in the Derby final. How do you explain that?”
Tendon
“When we raced on grass, the dogs often strained the small tendons behind the wrist. You just have to manage them. Dogs like Drynham Star and Ivy Hall Jewel raced for much of their careers with thickened tendons. In severe cases, we may still have them taken out.
“Sonic Flight, ruptured his flexor tendon (the big tendon above the stopper pad) while still a puppy in the final of the Blue Riband.
“I had the two sections sewn back together by a top vet but the dog still seemed to be in great discomfort. I took the dog back to him but he said, ‘don’t worry its perfectly normal’
“But I wasn’t convinced and asked Allesandro Piras to take a second look. He discovered that the knot in the stitches had become so tight that it was cutting through the tendon.
“He re-sewed the tendon and after a long lay-off, it eventually saw the dog through the rest of his career. It was superb skill by Allesandro and undoubtedly saved Sonic’s career. Thankfully it isn’t a common injury”
Shoulder: “All shoulder muscles are liable to injury but the large monkey muscle tends to be the one most likely to be injured. The worst case I ever had was with Staplers Jo.
“His muscle ruptured so badly it virtually exploded and instantly finished his racing career.”
When a muscle injury is first detected, the first priority is the ice pack and the first treatment may take place on the night of the injury as soon as he arrives back at the kennel.
Nick says “It would be applied for 10 minutes. We would resume treatment the following morning at two hourly intervals, the treatment time being dependent on the severity of the problem.
“If it is bad, I would seek professional help which might include injecting with an anti-inflammatory. In more minor cases I might just decide on a six week lay-off supported by treatment from the ultrasound and Magnetopulse machines and massage with a good liniment.
“Throughout the time, I wouldn’t attempt to restrict the dog. He would be allowed access to a big paddock where he could exercise as best he felt able.”
Back problems: “I check the back for injuries though I cannot ever recall ever finding anything significant.
“Why this is I don’t know. Some of the quacks seem to find back problems on a regular basis, but I never have.
“The only time that you do get some reaction is if the dog has developed acidosis, but then it is a more widespread discomfort.”
Hocks “Hock injuries come in a variety of forms from mild sprains to stress fractures all the way through to bad breaks. In my personal experience, I have never had a dog come back as good if there has been a need to operate. But you have a very good chance if you are only dealing with sprains or minor fractures.
“I have changed my view about badly broken hocks in recent years. There was a time when I would have them plated but the results were disappointing, even though they looked good, the dogs didn’t perform to the previous standard.
“Hawk was a good example. The hock looked perfect but he lost half a second when he came back. If you are dealing with a grader, it might not be an issue if he comes back a couple of grades lower than he once was. But you might think differently if you have a top class dog.
“So in the case of bad breaks, I now have them put in plaster the old fashioned way and hope for the best. I have had some dogs come back far better than I’d dared hope.
“Of course if it is a very bad break you may have to get the hock screwed and plated just to save the dog’s leg. But those injuries are write-offs in terms of racing anyway.”
One particularly interesting case was Westmead Osprey. He sustained a hairline fracture of a hock at Hall Green. After five months off, he came back quite well but then seemed to go backwards.
Finally, the hock went again with a full fracture. While it may have seemed to signal the end of his career, Nick gave Osprey another five month break.
Incredibly, he went on to produce some of the fastest times of his career, quicker than before the first injury.
Nick says: The first time the bone didn’t callus correctly. It was almost like a bad piece of welding. When it fully fractured the healing process was much stronger with a good callus that made it stronger than before.”
Hind leg muscles. “One of the most common muscle injuries is a ruptured gracilis – the plump muscle on the inside of the hind leg. It is also one of the more serious muscle injuries though it is possible to get the dog back after a decent lay-off.
“I have also seen the muscle sewn back successfully by Plunket Devlin and the dog return to good racing form. The other common hind muscle injury seems to be a torn TFL, though thankfully not with us.”
Nick says: “I cannot emphasise enough that injury problems vary so much from the obvious to the obscure. If you cannot find the problem, then call in the professionals.
“These days, we tend to see mainly wrist and hock injuries. Years ago, on the grass tracks, we would get similar injuries, plus a lot more toe and tendon problems.
“I don’t care how experienced you are, when you get wrists or hock injuries you must get them x-rayed. No amount of experience can see what is going on under the skin. You will always be reliant on the skill and judgement of a top class vet.”
Nick has little faith in the self taught ‘muscle men’ but has a healthy respect for the opinion of former trainer and long term friend Cecil Law.
Nick says: ““If I am in any doubt, I will usually ask Cecil Law to check the dog over for me. I don’t tell him what I suspect and if he comes to the same conclusion, it is a great help.
“Cecil spent time working for Jim Gannon, Plunket, and Denis Beary and has learned a lot. I will often ask Cecil for a second opinion on a dog and over the years he has shown himself to be very capable.”
Nick has used a variety of vets over the years, and had mixed results.
He said: “I would say that Plunket Devlin was as good as any I used. Paddy Sweeney was also extremely capable. Although I haven’t been able to use him very often, Allesandro Piras appears to be a top class surgeon.”
“But over the years I can recall cases where even the top vets have found injuries that I couldn’t find. On occasions, I have disagreed with their diagnosis and have won races with apparently lame dogs.
“In other cases, there has clearly been an injury but nobody has been able to detect it. Injuries high in the groin can be particularly difficult to locate.
“In cases like this, all you can do is lay the dog off and wait for nature to take its course. Thankfully those type of obscure injuries are very rare.”
Finally, if the dog has been thoroughly checked and no problems found, you may even consider blood and urine tests.
Nick says: “At one stage I used to regularly blood test but decided that they usually proved inconclusive. The urine tests can be of some benefit.
“We use dip sticks which can detect a multitude of metabolic disorders. These would include detecting some infections, dehydration, traces of blood, or protein loss following a hard race.”
Of course not all injuries are serious and some can even be kept at bay with careful nursing.
For example, Westmead Power won the St Leger despite going through the event with a severe track-leg.
On the day before the 1974 TV Trophy Final, the Savva trained Stage Box got something trapped in his pad.
Nick said: “I asked David Poulter to come over. He took one look at it and said ‘you are wasting your time.’ I wasn’t convinced. I thought he would be okay if we could only get him past the vet walking on the concrete. On the track the problem wouldn’t affect him.
“I asked David to try to get out whatever was in the wound but he made it far worse, and I told him so.
“I dressed the wound with Elastoplast and decided to take our chance. *Bruce Prole was the vet on duty at the track and we hated each other. Paddy O’Shaugnessy refused to take the dog in.
“I trotted the dog up in front of Prole and deliberately kept stumbling around and kept nudging into the dog as though it was an accident.
“He made me trot him up about four times before he waved him through. I then warned Paddy that when they went on parade he had to keep leaning on the dog as they walked to cause him to lose his balance.
“We had tested him walking at home and sure enough, when he eventually got onto the grass, he was fine and walked normally.”
When the traps opened, the 16-1 chance soon took up the running and was never headed.
Nick said: “According to the rules the dog should not have run, I’ve had to withdraw many dogs from races over the years. But I knew that Stage Box was perfectly fit and that no harm would come to him.
“Basically, if the dogs had been trotted up in front of the vet on the same surface that they were going to race on – sand – there would never have been an issue.”
Sand burns can be an ongoing nuisance for kennels, but they are not directly caused by sand.
Nick says: “They are actually cased in starting traps, usually if they are kept dirty and are fitted with poor quality rubber mats. My dogs, including the pups, never get sand burns at home.
“I remember one night at Coventry where the vet was so concerned at the number that they were getting that he ordered racing to be stopped while they cleaned out the traps.
“I made a special effort to commend him for his observations and for doing something about it.”
Nick says: “Not all injuries are obvious even if you watch the dog closely when he is walking.
“To complicate it further, some dogs have an unusual style of walking; Hawk was one of them. He could look lame if you didn’t know him. I remember we had one dog, Westmead Hall, who had such an uneven action when walking that the vet at Hove withdrew him from an open race. I told him that the dog was sound and he wouldn’t even let me trial him to prove it.”
(* On the subject of vets – Nick and GRA vet Bruce Prole had numerous run-ins over the years. Nick says: “There was something very arrogant and superior about many GRA employees in those days and Prole was just typical.
“When you presented a dog to him at kennelling, he would lean over and take a big sniff, then he would reach out and shake the dog, before making you trot it away from him and back.
“Westmead Myra was very nervous and when I presented her, I warned him. ‘You can sniff as much as you want, and I will trot her backwards and forwards 100 times, but DO NOT shake her’
“He just glared at me, and I glared back at him. But he didn’t shake her.”
However, Prole would still have his little victories. Prior to kenneling, he saw Nick give one of his runners a drink. As soon as Prole spotted him, he seized the bottle and sent it away for analysis. The analysis revealed – water.
Nick said: “In general I used my local vet, or for X-rays or operations, I sometimes used Paddy Sweeney. If Bruce Prole had been the only option, I would have given up the game.”)
