When Betsys Bullet crossed the Hove winning line on Saturday night, the least surprised person in the stadium was trainer Belinda Green who was picking up her third Cat One competition in nine months.
Belinda said: “I saw that she was 11-1 and thought, ‘that’s a silly price, this girl can run’.”
Sourced by Belinda’s husband Gary through Irish contact Stephen Reidy, Betsy arrived in the kennel with just one race on her card in Ireland (28.75 Tralee) and was introduced to graded racing in D2 at Hove last spring. She soon moved up to A4 which she won first time out but all did not go smoothly with just three races in her first five months in the kennel. So what went wrong?
“The tail, at least to begin with” says Belinda. “Betsy has the longest tail you have ever seen on a greyhound. At least she did have. She caught it, then split it and it generally caused so many problems that in the end we had the end taken off it. Billy Boyle still takes the micky about ‘Stumpy’.
“Then she picked up a gracilis problem which we had to overcome, she came in season, then she picked up a slight hock strain in the Winter Derby. The plan had always been to run her in the Belle, but time was against us. She is a big girl and takes a lot of work, but at the same time, you can’t push too hard.
“I can’t tell you the amount of times I have walked her around that field. It has presumably done her the world of good, but I haven’t even dropped a jean size.”
Betsy found over five lengths between her last three races with more improvement hopefully to come?
Belinda said: “We haven’t made any plans for her going forward, but I would like to acknowledge Hove for turning the Brighton Belle into a Cat One event. There aren’t enough of them, but they are really important for the open race bitches.”
As for other plans. . .
Belinda said: “Ninja Kerry and Bradys Bullet are definitely going for the Derby. While Low Pressure trialed back at the weekend (29.43 Hove) following the incident at Oxford and is due to go to Crayford for the Kent St.Leger.”
Brighton Belle winner Betsys Bullet with trainer Belinda Green, husband Gary Whittington and their daughter Harriet Photo: © Steve Nash
