Liz McNair currently sits in sixth place in the Trainers Championship and n0 0ne is more astonished than her assistant trainer husband Rab.

It was back in 2019 that the KSS breeding flagship found itself on a two year drift towards an iceberg. The kennel’s star brood Skate On, who had landed three Dam of the Year titles, produced two pups in her only litter. Queen Anna only had one pup.

With the multiple Cat One winning Eden The Kid/Skate On litter reaching veteran stage at the start of 2021, everything was resting on the May ’18 bunch by Leamaneigh Turbo. On March 8, the star of the litter Queen Jessiej suffered a broken hock in a race at Nottingham. Two weeks later litter brother King Drake suffered an even worse fate after being KO’d in the final of the British Bred Sprint.

Added to that, a string of other failed matings in 2020, including Skate On and Queen Beyonce had left Rab wondering whether the kennel had reached the end of a hugely successful era.

Rab said: “Lib and I talked about it and wondered whether we could ever recover. I’ll be honest, I had my doubts.”

Although they didn’t know it at the time, their luck was about to change, in fact it already had. Back in December 2020 Rab received a call from a friend he had known since childhood back in Ayreshire, Drew Richards.

Rab said: “It was a call from out of the blue. I hadn’t spoken to Drew in probably 20 years. He was breeding dogs in Northern Ireland and had a dog that I thought we might be interested in. He agreed to send it over ‘on appro’.

“He was quite fast but not really good enough for what we wanted. I suggested that Jimmy (Wright) might like the dog as a grader for Newcastle and he has gone on to win quite a few races.”

In the meantime, Richards made another phone call. He had a young dog who he rated and had won well at Thurles. Could he send him over too?

It didn’t take long for Rab and KSS joint founder Brendan Keogh to spot the potential of Havana Class. The fawn paws had barely touched the ground when Brendan told Rab he was thinking of buying a young dog he had spotted winning in 28.95 at Clonmel.

Rab said: “Brendan has a good eye for a dog. He picked him out and said, ‘he’s not expensive, I think I’ll take a chance on him. That was Warzone Tom.”

With a string of category one finals behind them including Laurels and Gold Collar wins, the pair have done the bulk of the kennel points to date.

Rab said: “Brendan has spent big money on dogs in the past and seen them go wrong. I won’t say how much they cost but for a £20,000 cheque you could have bought both dogs and still had enough to send me and Lib on a luxury cruise.”

 

Rab hasn’t ruled out producing more Kings and Queens, but for the moment, the big expectations will carry the Havana prefix.

Unraced Havana Bale Out was 18 months old when she contested her first four bend trial at Central Park. She clocked 29.50, then a calculated 29.00, then a calculated 28.72.

Rab said: “I was a bit troubled by the times. The last trial was actually 29.02 (-30) and I assumed that the racing office had got the going wrong. But even then, they couldn’t have been very far out. But then she did 29.40 in her second race at Towcester having run as green as grass, and I realised she was the real deal.”

That form was franked next time out with a 29.21 next time out and then a 29.17. Strongly fancied for the English Puppy Derby, she was well placed going into the first bend when the eventual winner of the stake, Make Noise, moved off and collided with the McNair’s orange jacketed black. (Make Noise took a similar course in the final, this time from trap three, though fortunately there was nothing on his immediate outside.

Rab said: “That is just one of those things. Seamus is still finding out about his pup, as we are about ours and the dog himself is still finding his way. Best of luck to them. But only beaten four and a half lengths after losing ten lengths in running was still a great run for Bale Out”

In the meantime, the daughter of Magical Bale has been joined by the even younger (Aug 20) pup from the Richard range – Havana Lover. Only just old enough to be allowed to qualify, she clocked 29.04 (-30) prior to racing at Central Park last Thursday. Quickest at the meeting were A2 winner Hollyoak Titan and A1 winner Ballymac Arnold in 29.49 and 29.47 respectively (both -30).

Rab said: “There are lots of things that we still don’t know about her, but you would have to say she is as quick as Bale Out. We have done a deal with Drew, including a potential puppy deal, and more money if she wins a Cat One. It is important that no one thinks they are missing out.

In addition to this group Brendan has been casting his eye back over the Irish Sea and it has settled on the Dec’19 whelp Feora Noel.

Rab said: “Brendan was actually interested in him after he won his first race at Tralee in 28.43. He has been beaten in all his other races and Brendan managed to buy him for a lot less than the original price.

“But he has since done 28.19 in a trial at Limerick, he is a big handsome blue dog and I like the look of him. We’ve given him a few weeks to settle in. I couldn’t get any weight on him to begin with but his behaviour has just started to change as he begins to feel at home.”

 

So what does 2022 have in store?

Rab said: “For Warzone Tom, it will be the Essex Vase hopefully followed by the Golden Jacket. We haven’t decided about Havana Class yet. 500 metres tears the guts out of him. I’ll be interested to see what the plans are for Oxford. It should be his sort of track.

“As far as the two pups are concerned, it will be the Puppy Derby at Newcastle. We wouldn’t have gone for low prize money but it is £10K now which makes it worthwhile. After that, it is the Monmore Puppy Derby for both of them.

“It is possible that the distance is a bit short for them both but I like the track, the bends and the long straight. In fact, I originally wasn’t going to run Bale Out at Towcester because I thought the competition was too soon for her. It was always going to be Monmore, even more so since they bumped up the prize money.

“We will play it by ear with Feora Noel. We may keep him back for the Maiden Derby at Towcester. It just depends what he shows me in his trials.”