Heflewanocean – the fabulous quirkiness of greyhound ownership
When Heflewanocean held on to land an A4 at Yarmouth on Saturday, it was a landmark moment in a remarkable little tale of faith, hope and international sportsmanship writes Floyd Amphlett.
It all started when Glenn Harrison, who runs the Apollo UK Syndicate in the Bloomfield Kennel, was chatting to American ladies Shannon Konold Lorenz, and Trish Cescolini.
Contrary to the rumours pedalled by the USA’s well funded scam welfare organisations – that there are no genuine animal lovers among the USA’s greyhound owners – Shannon and Trish found they had plenty in common with Glenn and the 40 members of the Apollo syndicate.
Glen said: “The syndicate has members from all over the world, including quite a few from America and even one from Malta. When they have a runner they will stay up to all hours to watch the race live on their phones. There are no serious gamblers in the syndicate, in fact we have quite a few pensioners, but they just love greyhound racing as a spectacle.
That isn’t to say that there aren’t huge differences between racing in the USA and Britain.
Glenn said: “I was chatting to Shannon and Trish one night when Jason had a winner at Henlow. They had a runner on the same night at Wheeling (Island, West Virginia). Our dog won and picked up £130, their’s finished fourth and earned $3,000.”
Things only started to develop when Glenn had the brainwave/brainstorm – what if we were to buy an American dog to race over here?
He said: “I had no idea of the cost or what would be involved but the ladies put me in touch with top American breeder Robert Crossland. I asked him how much a pup would cost and held my breath waiting for a ridiculous figure. I couldn’t believe it when he said $2,000. It would have cost me more than that in Ireland.
“Robert is such a nice guy. He offered me the pick of the litter, providing that it was a dog. The bitches were all being sold to Australia because of how the American states are trying to ban greyhound racing. Since then though, I gather they are now trying to buy back some of the bitches.”
Glenn settled on an August ’22 black son of the Aussie sire My Bro Fabio and American dam, Teasemansqueezem. He applied to the USA’s registration body, the National Greyhound Association, who did the necessary checks before okaying the ownership.
Glenn said: “The litter were born in Missouri but all the pups are sent to Florida for the winter. I thought it was the best idea at the time, though that was my first mistake.”
It was the following Easter when the pup, who would be known as Heflewanocean, was lined up for his flight to Europe.
Glenn said: “We arranged the flight with the couriers but when he arrived at the airport, British Airways decided that the crate was three inches too small. By the time that we had arranged for a bigger crate, the total bill for sending him over was almost £5,000. If we had brought him over when we brought him, he could have come as ‘hand luggage’ at a cost of around $400.”
Heflewanocean’s remaining rearing was entrusted to Michelle Brown, near Wisbech and he was eventually schooled by David Pruhs.
Glenn said: “The pup was syndicated to 22 owners and I made the promise that if he didn’t chase they would all get their money back. I was quite nervous because as anyone who knows Dave Pruhs will tell you – he will give it to you straight. In fact, David was brilliant. He said that he was a cracking little dog and that he and his wife would have probably had him as a pet if he hadn’t made it. They had really taken to him.”
There was still the issue of registration.
Glenn said: “It had occurred to me that if we couldn’t register him, it would have been another huge mistake on my part. But the lady at the Stud Book (Liz Mort), was very excited and explained that there is no issue with American dogs. In fact, his bloodlines would have been traced back to the England around 200 years ago.”
Heflewanocean was sent to Jason Bloomfield who qualified him at Romford where he was beaten in each of his four A6 races.
Glenn said: “Jason is contracted to both Romford and Yarmouth and it soon became obvious that at nearly 37 kilos, we was struggling at Romford. He took him to Yarmouth where he did 28.37 in his first trial and then won on Saturday in his second race.
“Everybody is absolutely thrilled. All the syndicate members were in touch with each other and they were all so excited. I wonder when the last time that a pup born and reared in America had won a race in England.”
Final thoughts?
Glenn said: “I guess the total cost of buying, rearing, registering and transporting has been around £10,000. Split between the 22 members of the syndicate, which include six Americans, that is quite affordable. You can easily spend that much buying an Irish dog who doesn’t make it.
“I made some mistakes along the way, but yes, I would definitely do it again.”
Annyone wishing to contact Glenn can do so at: [email protected]
Open race wins 2024
9 wins: Romeo To Victory
8 wins: Coppice Fox – Druids Say Go – Quagos Jack – Quarteira – Rioja Maxi – Whisky Copper.
7 wins: Ballymac Taylor – Bettys Jack – Broadway Murty – Clairekeith Remy – Emers Sammy – Queen Joni
Opens
Thursday: Newcastle
Friday: Romford
Saturday: Hove ♦ Perry Barr ♦ Yarmouth
