Mother Mullins famously advised her four sons, “You have two ears and one mouth. Keep them open and it closed.” It was advice that her two oldest sons have adhered to ever since. Despite being consistently among the leading open race trainers, neither John nor David do social media or are particularly public in their views. But after seeing Arkady produce once of the finest performances of any tracker this year, to win last week’s PGR Kent Derby, David was just a little more forthcoming on a hound who must now rate as a top six contender for next year’s English Derby – writes Floyd Amphlett.
So when did you know Arkady was special?
“When Seamus Cahill told me” quipped David, before adding, “I’m joking. But sometimes you can be too close to your dogs. It was after Arkady had run at Towcester, when he was beaten, that Seamus said ‘that is a real dog’.
“The thing is, Seamus has handled many top class dogs and is an excellent judge. I don’t remember him making that comment to one of my dogs before and it took me by surprise. You would be stupid not to take it on board.
“Arkady wasn’t an expensive puchase. He had a couple of races in Ireland and we knew that he was two lengths faster to the third bend than a top heat/minor open race dog we had in the kennel. Kelly (Searle) put in an offer for him, not really expecting to get him, but she did. At that stage, we weren’t sure he would see out a longer distance and thought we were buying a Romford type.”
Beaten in his first two A2s, he then won A2, A1, and his next four opens including heats and semis of a puppy stake at Sunderland. His 26.59 in the semi final is the fastest time over course and distance in three years. (The second fastest is Brookside Richie – 26.64). A 4-11f chance in the final, he inexplicably checked, looking outwards, a few yards after coming out of the traps, and never recovered.
There was no suggestion of any attempt to interfere with any other runner. Quite what happened remains a mystery.
“There are various theories” said David, “but I doubt we will ever know what actually happened.”
(It certainly hasn’t been a lucky race for the kennel. In the 2021 final, their 15-8fav Brookside Richie led but was caught before the line.)
David had no doubts about Arkady’s mental state and within a week, a whole new range of possibilities opened up when he trialled at Towcester. Despite stumbling at the traps, he clocked 29.53 on his first look at the 500m course. Clearly he was much more than a ‘Romford type’.
He ran Kaluki to two and a half lengths in the opening round of the Juvenile Classic but came off lame with a strain to a TFL muscle, and didn’t race again until the opening round at Central Park. He missed his break, scraped through in third and was majestic in both the semi finals, 28.88 (-20) and final, 28.82 (-20), where as a middle seed, he dominated in the orange jacket.
David said: “I was originally planning to bring him back in the Scurry and trialled him at Perry Barr. (He did 15.96 first look). But after looking at the run to the bend, I wasn’t convinced that it was a long enough run and that is why we chose to go to Central Park.
“We haven’t decided where to go next. The Derby is the long term objective, but you can’t keep these dogs in cotton wool forever. There is only one Derby and you can go out in the first round. The options are Oxford, or more likely Nottingham (Eclipse).”
It wasn’t just the benefits of keeping their own counsel that the Mullins brothers learned from their parents.
Derby winning dad Pat, who died shortly after becoming 1980 Champion Trainer, was a keen exponent of active rehab. Excluding bone injuries, Pat firmly believed that lame dogs should exercise themselves back to fitness. Basically, a dog should be given the option, not encouraged, to exercise and potentially gallop, by being allowed to run loose in a paddock. The fitter and better he felt, the more he would exercise. Nature taking its course.
David said: “Some trainers keep their dogs on their beds when they are injured. I don’t. I like them to have the opportunity to exercise back to full fitness. It takes a little longer, but I think it works out better in the long run and it is what we did with Arkady.”
David also has some interesting views on hock injuries.
He said: “I think the GBGB scheme to pay for hock injuries is fabulous, but I do think they are missing a trick. If you bring the dog back racing, you have to pay back the veterinary costs. So lots of dogs, I reckon somewhere between 15-30% of broken hocks could come back racing, but don’t because it is not worth taking the risk that they might not.
“Take Tenpin as an example. That dog is probably in the best condition of any greyhound in the kennel, and I am pretty sure could race again. But we can’t risk it because his vets bills were well in excess of £5,000. How many dogs are currently taking up places in re-homing kennels that could still be racing.”
Interestingly, David also takes a leaf from mum Linda’s notebook. In addition to being a six-time champion trainer, perhaps Linda’s most characteristic methodology was her ability to keep dogs in training. When Linda was a kennelgirl at Wembley in the 1950s, it was quite common for the elite greyhounds to run for at least three or four seasons. That process mainly died out when stud earnings began to outweigh prize money benefits.
Most of Linda’s stars, El Premier, El Grand Senor, Heavenly Lady, including of course her homebred Palace Issue ran within the region of 100 races. El Tenor actually won 102 opens!
David said: “Many people might not agree with me, but I believe all types of athletes thrive when they continue to participate. Just look as something like tennis, the likes of Federer or Nadal in tennis or Tiger Woods in golf. They keep playing and their bodies adapt. If a dog is running well, keep him going. Once you stop, you lose the elasticity and one problem can follow another.”
On that note, David is firmly against the ‘four day rule’.
He said: “I understand why it was bought in, because of the small minority who abuse the situation. But take away the flexibility from trainers and it causes more harm than good. Dogs that might benefit from a quick look around a track, as happened after the Puppy Cup and before the Oxford race (Puppy Collar), don’t get the chance. If the rule isn’t there to benefit the dogs, the trainers or the tracks, why have we got it?”
ARKADY (t5) bursts to the front early (a superb 3.07 sectional) on his way to Kent Derby victory Photo: © Steve Nash
Owner Kelly Searle with her Kent Derby winner Arkady. Photo: © Steve Nash
