Puppy sensation Coolavanny Shado is rated only “50:50” to contest the Star Sports/Towcester Events & Leisure Greyhound Derby after being withdrawn lame from the semi finals of the Matchbook Maiden Derby at Towcester.
Shadow was beaten in the second round of the event on Sunday when picked up by Farneys Maestro and trainer Patrick Janssens was immediately concerned.
He said: “He trialed over the sprint and did 15.73, 15.62 and 15.53 which is what you would hope for. He trialed over 500 and did 29.14, followed by a 29.29 and then 29.53 so immediately you are thinking there is something wrong.
“I couldn’t see anything when he came off the track. But he wasn’t quite right walking back to the van, and the next morning he wasn’t happy when I checked a front toe. I suspected it was a stress fracture of a metacarpal and that was confirmed with an x-ray this morning.
“It is a typical injury of a very fast young dog. It is disappointing, but that is how it goes. We’ll see how he is in three weeks, but there is only a month to go until the Derby so he can only be considered 50:50 to take part. It isn’t just one week though, you have to keep going in the highest company for six weeks and you have to be fully fit for that. Besides, if he breaks like he did last week, he would be a million to win a Derby.
“But we are not downhearted. I have seen enough to know how fast he is, but realistically at this stage, he only looks a 480 dog. The owners are all greyhound people and can see this for what it is. Could he beat Thorn Falcon or Lautaro at the moment? I don’t think so. But we will be looking a year ahead and keep our fingers crossed.
“I am reminded of when I worked for Mark and we had Blonde Snapper. I fancied the dog for my life the first year and backed him at all odds. He went out in the first round. But then look at what happened a year later. There was a similar story with Loyal Honcho, or what about Dorotas Wildcat? You never know in this game.”
