“It has been our best year by far. Not even close.”
For a man who has relinquished his first Trainers Championship title, Patrick Janssens is absolutely buzzing following another fabulous year that ended on a high this week.
On Monday night, he saw Crossfield Dusty (T5) narrowly come out in front following an epic battle with Shrewd Call (T3) in the final of the National Sprint at Nottingham
David Evans presenting the trophy to owner Marc White accompanied by Kelly Bakewell (left) and Helen Addison
Then on Tuesday night, Fabulous Azurra produced a tremendous front running display to land the BGBF British Bred Derby at Sheffield.
In relation to the Nottingham decider, the winning trainer appreciated the spectacle as much as the result.
He said: “When you look at Dusty going head-to-head with Shrewd Call, who is a great greyhound in his own right, it was great to watch. David’s dog had the advantage being on the inside, but Dusty continued to battle away. He is so determined and so consistent, and he isn’t two years old until the end of January. A real top class greyhound.
“As far as Sheffield is concerned, I was so pleased for Dave Firmager. We had a few problems with Azurra when she first arrived. We tried to prepare her for the Produce Stakes but it was obvious something wasn’t right. She started to bleed as though she was coming in season, it stopped after a couple of days and the season never developed.
“We ran her in the Oaks but she still wasn’t right. Thankfully, Dave has worked with dogs and understands that sometimes you just need a bit of patience. We left her off and then gave her a couple of trials at Towcester. I told Dave that I thought she was coming right and suggested that we run her in the British Bred Derby. He left the decision to me.
“Azurra had never been around Sheffield and there wasn’t enough time to trial her; but in my opinion, Sheffield and Towcester have a lot in common and I was happy to take her without a trial. In the final, she took to the track really well and she took two lengths out of the opposition around the first two bends and then broke their hearts between two and three. Dave wasn’t at the track but was on the phone straight after the race and was absolutely thrilled.”
Azurra’s victory was the kennel’s sixth Cat One win of the year. The others were Blue Riband (Kilara Lion), Golden Sprint, Northamptonshire Sprint (Bockos Jon Jo), and KAB Maiden Derby/Star Sports English Derby (Thorn Falcon).
Patrick said: “We had seven the year before but this was the best year. Apart from the six Cat Ones, there were two Cat Two competitions, the Scurry and National Sprint, which should be Cat Ones.
“I honestly don’t care about Trainers Championships, it doesn’t give me a buzz. To win them, you have to have stayers and marathon dogs and they don’t interest me. I have ended up with a few stayers but normally by accident. I set out to win as many big four-bend competitions as I can.
“Nothing will ever compare to the tenth of July. Now we want to do it again.”
Patrick plans to kick off the 2022 campaign in the Premarket Blue Riband with at least six entries. The team will be headed by Thorn Falcon who will use the event as a springboard for the Derby, in the same way that he used the KAB Maiden Derby last year.
So is a Derby defence a realistic possibility? The 39 kilo black only raced five times following his 2021 success and was beaten in four of them.
Patrick said: “In my view, he should be at least as good as he was this year. I made some mistakes after the Derby. I shouldn’t have run him at Hove, but the race was in memory of Bockos Doomie which I wanted to support. I then ran him twice at Nottingham as a wide runner, which didn’t suit him. It is nice to get an invitation for the Select Stakes but I got carried away.
“I brought him back to Towester and he won in 29.36 and looked to be on his way back, but we then had cough in the kennel and I had to withdraw him from his next race. I am very confident that he will be back at least as good as before. Thankfully, in having an owner like Keith Allsop, there is no pressure. He understands how things work and leaves me to get on with it. Those are the sort of owners you need in a kennel.
“Thorn Falcon is a big dog but he absolutely loves Towcester and runs those bends as fast as the straights. I have always believed that the great dogs are those who can run the bends fastest. It is something that Crossfield Dusty does so well too.”
Things haven’t gone quite to plan for the kennel’s ‘next big thing’, Lautaro. The February pup clocked 29.38 on debut at Towcester but failed to sparkle in his next three races including two rounds of the English Puppy Derby.
Patrick said: “There were reasons, but I didn’t say anything at the time because they sound like excuses. Basically, we were quite badly hit with sickness. It was the same issue that made me withdraw Thorn Falcon. Lautaro had it and appeared to have recovered.
“He didn’t go so well in his first race afterwards, but you don’t know that until after they’ve run. You then expect them to improve next time out. He got through but then got injured. It was nothing serious, just some niggles, so he is now off recovering.”
Others to look out for in the New Year include June pup Deelish Frankie who finished second on debut on Sunday and Romeo De Niro.
Patrick said: “Frankie is very young but definitely has plenty of pace. Considering Romeo De Niro is still making mistakes in running, his strike rate is fabulous. He could develop into a really good greyhound.
“Stamp Your Feet is a slightly older dog but has broken 16.00 in his two trials at Towcester. I would expect to see more from Azurra next year and although we don’t have many stayers, I think Blackrose Pippa, who was bred by Eric Cantillon, could develop into a decent bitch. She has early, lacks a bit of middle pace, but seems to stay on well. She won at Sheffield on Tuesday, we need to see how far she will get. At the moment, we are thinking about the Golden Jacket.”
In terms of more long term plans, the kennel are getting a real buzz by having young youngsters in the paddocks again. The Ballymac Inspeed litter were born in April and were introduced to the drag hare this week.
Patrick said: “We only have room for three, John (Mullins) has the other four. I have to say, I really love them as a litter. They are all big strong pups and you can see from the video, they would probably go around a track now.”
