A final decision is still to be made, but the 2018 Dam of the Year Skate On may be mated to the (surely inevitable, if as yet unofficial) 2018 British Bred Greyhound of the Year King Turbo.
It was more a case of quantity of quality rather than quality alone that secured KCC’s brood the top award with her closest rival being kennelmate Wee Tiger Tots, dam of said, King Turbo.
Queen Adele’s victory in the Mini Derby at Henlow was the only success for the 2017 all conquering Tullymurry Act litter, though 2018 also saw the emergence of a group of March ’17 pups by former kennel star Eden The Kid.
Kings Sheeran and Nelson both won puppy stakes though Rab McNair concedes that their sister Queen Beyonce is currently setting the standard.
He said: “At the moment, Beyonce is in a class of her own, but we are still to find out how good these pups are. I always thought King Lennon was a different class to the rest of the litter but we haven’t pushed them so far. I would expect more improvement from all of them in the next three months.”
Skate On’s third litter, four dogs and two bitches by Leamaneigh Turbo, are a year old in May and Rab plans to learn from mistakes he made with the Eden The Kid bunch.
He said: “I will spend a bit more time schooling the next lot. I got away with very little schooling for the Tullymurry Acts because they had such good early pace that they got away with not trapping. It cost the second litter in the early races, but it won’t happen again.
“Skate On is a six monthly bitch, but we wouldn’t dream of breeding her two seasons in a row. All our brood bitches are fed the same as the racing dogs, and they kept in really good condition. They are coated up in the winter in heated kennels and are groomed every day. They look a picture.
“At the right time, I’ll sit down with Brendan (Kehoe) and talk about who she should go to next, but I am planning on taking some straws from (King) Turbo and (King) Elvis, so why not? The other option is to go back to Tullymurry Act. I believe Keith Allsop still has some straws.”
Despite all the praise heading their way, Rab insists that the only person to take credit for the breeding success is their kennel help Liz Smith.
He said: “All I do is look after the racing dogs. Liz is absolutely dedicated to the pups. She knows all about their individual personalities and their different habits.
“She sits for hours with them and by the time they come into the kennels, they have perfect manners, none of the jumping around and acting like idiots.”
The litter are already producing a twist on that famous line about pups “fast enough to catch pigeons.
Rab said: “They are very clever. They have worked out to let the seagulls land in the paddock and start eating the food. Once they have eaten so much that they can’t take off, the pups chase them. I have just seen one pup run past with a seagull in its mouth.”
