Mothering Sunday, saw the happy conclusion of the most poignant tales to emerge from greyhound racing in many a day writes Floyd Amphlett.
Many reading this may be aware of most of the story, even though it doesn’t concern one of the well known stars of the track. It was first beautifully chronicled by Paul Duffett in the Racing Post roughly 17 months ago. For those who haven’t heard the tale . . .
It began just short of four years ago when Gorey breeder Paul Ryan bred a litter by Tullymurry Act out of Altesse Tiptop. Among the litter of ten was a pup who stood out from the rest. With a blue right eye and brown left eye, the handsome black and white was originally a concern for his breeder. But following a veterinary check, the pup’s eyesight was confirmed to be perfectly normal. Paul did some research and discovered that the most famous individual with dual coloured eyes was pop superstar David Bowie.
Paul decided to share his news with a Facebook group which alerted Julie Meadows. As a devoted David Bowie fan in her teens, Julie felt an immediate connection with the young pup.
At the time, Julie was struggling. Her 29 year old son Liam had “gone to sleep and not woken up” just three months earlier, on 11th January. It was later discovered that he had a previously undiagnosed heart condition. Julie was bereft.
As she battled the darkness, greyhounds were Julie’s salvation. Working nights at a supermarket, she was a volunteer with Crayford trainer Nick Carter in her spare time. She had kept in touch with the Ryan family and followed Bowie’s early career. He won at Enniscorthy and at Shelbourne but as he approached his second birthday, Paul decided it was time he was sold. The dog was duly advertised on the greyhound-data website.
Unbeknown to Julie, Nick Carter and partner Lisa Robbins had got together with owners Charlie Hirons and John Bottomley and contacted Paul Ryan. Bowie was more expensive than the trio had bargained for, but when the breeder heard their plan, he agreed to drop the price. The whole thing was to be kept secret.
On Jul 19th, Julie and Bowie came eye to eye for the first time. Julie made her way to the sixth kennel on the block where there was a new dog. The whole scene was filmed by Lisa’s daughter Daisy and when the touching video was screened on Facebook, things started to go manic. Julie was contacted by greyhound followers from all over the world as they shared in her joy.
By the standards of the ‘Tiptop’ kennel, Bowie was an unexceptional racing dog. His most notable win was in a six bend Owners Bonus Final at Crayford. In fact, it was as a result of the apparent OTT celebrations that first attracted Paul Duffett to unravel Bowie’s story. He was eventually retired in January after picking up a gracilis injury.
Paul Ryan said: “Bowie should have been a far faster dog than he showed. He was A2 when he was with us but he picked up a gracilis injury early in his career and its unusual for them to come back at all. Also, Crayford wasn’t really his track, he didn’t really see out the 540 metres.
“But this isn’t really a story about his ability. He was a grader not a Derby dog. It is a story about a dog helping a lady get through her suffering after her loss. It all worked out so well.”
Julie said: “Bowie came home on Sunday and the coincidence didn’t originally occur to me that it would be on Mothering Sunday. But there are so many strange coincidences surrounding what happened with Bowie. It turned out that I actually became a Facebook friend with Paul, earlier in the day, on the day that Liam died. Bowie came along just when I needed him.
“According to a Native American myth, dogs with one blue eye and one brown eye can see both heaven and earth at the same time, this is why Bowie is so special to me
The story of Tip Top Bowie was made into a video by Paul Ryan who then added his own musical twist by adding the Don Henley song Taking You Home. The original Eagles version will be blocked by Youtube under copyright restrictions, though this studio version still tells the tale.
