Promoter Kevin Boothby was thrilled with the first set of handslips that have taken place at Towcester during the last couple of days.
He said: “First of all, we need to get a few things out of the way. Towcester is in lock-down. All the dogs that were handslipped live on the premises. Social distancing was carried out.
“This is not racing, it is schooling, with handslips, much as I saw trainers at Newmarket galloping their horses under strict distancing measures. Finally, we are not yet licensed by GBGB, but they have been kept informed as a courtesy, and had no objections.
“In total we put around 35 dogs round, with handslips from both sides of the track. There was not a single injury of any sort, and you can judge for yourself how you think the dogs ran the track. Frank Gray said he thought it was the best track he had put a dog on, and who am I to disagree?
“There is just one final point. At the moment, the pick-up is up near the third bend, which is absurd. We will be moving it back along the straight between the sprint traps and the second bend.
“It has been a long process getting this far, but looking at those dogs go around the place, I think it was money well spent.”
