New Pup

We had another new arrival in Drumscraw today. A fawn March 06 whelp, very well bred and with a massive future. Before you start asking is he by Brett Lee or Top Honcho I better tell you he is actually a Golden Lab! My father is a very keen field sports man and he bought two pups last year to have them ready for the 07/08 season, Bruce and his litter brother Ben who is now residing with us. His sire was an Irish Field Champion and his dam has bred several field champions, a greyhound equivalent would be a pup out of a top open class producing dam and a top sire.

I will be letting him settle for a while and then will start training him to command. He went out hunting with the pups this afternoon and they got on fine after a few growls. I wont be taking him to field championships as I don't have the time to train him fully for them but he will be standing at stud if he trains on well.

Tragedy for Paddy

It was the quarter finals of the Blue Square English Derby tonight. What should have been a great nights racing and something to excite has left me with a very sour taste in my mouth. The bad injury suffered by Phoenix Paddy at the first bend has left a shadow over the remainder of the competition for me. My immediate thought when it happened was Premier Fantasy, although its very early to speculate it looked like a hock injury to me. My other fancy, Droopys Robinho, suffered no luck in running after a tardy start and that ended his derby hopes.

People talk about tradition and how three runs in a week sorts the men from the boys but from my perspective it is outdated and unnecessary. Wimbledon is an awkward track and that often sees the best Irish dogs stay at home, what happened tonight wont encourage them to come. I thought the track looked very poor with the sand very loose. Hopefully Paddy's injury isn't as bad as it looked and my thoughts are with the Reillys tonight

Puppy Update

"Motto" and her pups are doing well at 10 days old. They are putting weight on at the right rate and are developing nicely. It wont be long till their eyes open and they start to terrorise mum! They are already very rough with her as it is, but thankfully she is very patient and is making a very good brood. It is a very evenly balanced litter with the exception of one dog who is a monster!

Update to Skipping Chick

I had a feeling whilst writing about this brood bitch that I was omitting one great offshoot of the line and it has kindly been pointed out to me by John Moyles that I hadn't mentioned the Lanigans Ball line.

http://www.greyhound-data.com/d?i=129093

She comes from the Flying Lady branch of the line and it is one of the most active on the scene at the minute. Miss Firecracker is a direct descendant and is in Trap 1 in the Irish Oaks Final next Saturday and although a big price she holds a big chance.

The most obvious offspring of Lanigans Ball is Live Contender who won the 91 Produce Stakes and Irish Laurels before a successful stud career. The Bangor prefix of dogs mostly came from this line and it produced a great bitch in the shape of Pinhead who reached the semi final of 99 Oaks. Her two best pups where both bitches in Tyrur Jenny and Marita and they along with the bitches from other litters have bred on exceptionally well. PJ Fahy is responsible for the Pinhead line and it has served him very well supplying him with home bred dogs of the very highest class in Tyrur Lee, Margeret, Pedro, Major and Brett, Ullid Conor.

Brood bitches and the English Derby

Following on from my look at Skipping Chick I was reading an old topic on Greyhound Data about stud dogs with representatives in this years English Derby. In my opinion the use of such a measure is only of limited benefit when assessing a sire. We have reached the last 48 now and most of the dogs with lesser ability have been eliminated with the classier dogs progressing, with the odd exception, so I decided to look at the remainder from a different angle to try and establish any useful stats. The angle was what broodline did the runners originate from. By this I mean, there are around half a dozen brood lines that are accepted to be the bulk providers of the very top echelon of greyhounds. Going by my post into Skipping Chick she was obviously going to feature but below are the others that have more than one representative. It makes for fascinating reading.



Skipping Chick - 6 runners
ZigZag Dutchy, Ullid Conor, Farloe Chester, Droopys Wells, Kanes Blue, Tyrur Lee.

Killeacle Blonde - 4 runners
Blakes World, Bens Court, Ballymac Charley, Calzaghe Boyo.

Hacksaw via Westmead Satin - 4 runners
Dilemmas Flight, Larkhill Jo, Astronomic, Farloe Premier.

Millies May - 3 runners
Express Ego, Droopys Tobey, Congo Romeo.

Lauragh Pride - 3 runners
Pagoda Tarbert, Lenson Express, Lenson Earl.

Minnies Movita - 2 runners
Forest Scholes, Savanna Highlands.

Shiela at Last - 2 runners
Greenwell Storm, Greenwell Flash.

Ruby Bridge - 2 runners
Westmead Joe, Westmead Lord.

So out of 48 runners 26 can be traced back to just 8 brood lines. This goes some way to confirm my believe that certain proven lines should be bred from to the exclusion of others. I have already discussed Skipping Chick in detail, the closest to her on these stats is a tie between Killeacle Blonde and Hacksaw. Nick Savva has successfully based his operation on Hacksaw and her direct offspring Westmead Satin and Liam Dowling has done the same with Killeacle Blonde.

Millies May comes next jointly with Lauragh Pride. In the opinion of many "May" has had the greatest influence of any brood on the greyhound breeding scene with influence on all continents where greyhound racing takes place. The "Lauragh" line came to prominence with Fly Cruiser and Fly Smasher in the 80's and has been carried on ever since.

Minnies Movita, Shiela at Last and Ruby Bridge all have two runners left. Ruby Bridge came to the fore with the Knockeevan dogs and more famously with Mega Joy and Delight, with the latter breeding wonder dog Westmead Hawk. Minnies Movita was the foundation for Lizzie Maher's continued success and has branched off and multiplied leaving a large number of top broods. The Shiela at Last line was initially proven by Monalee Gambler and Pride and litter brothers Greenwell Flash and Storm are representing it with great distinction.

It will be interesting to see how many are left standing with the draw for the quarter finals is made.

The greatest brood bitch of all time?

I was prompted by a recent discussion to do a bit of in depth research into Skipping Chick. I have always thought that she has left a great breeding legacy but after spending a few hours browsing the offspring that have descended from her it is only now that I begin to realise her importance.



http://www.greyhound-data.com/d?z=RorGaG&d=skipping+chick

Kilbelin Style x Skipping Chick

4 bitches, Jun 74. Ballinderry Moth, who was the bitch of the year in 78 after winning the English Oaks and Pall Mall, is the best known from this litter. However, another very productive bitch was also in this litter in the shape of Flying Lady who along with "Moth" deserves a more detailed posting. Of the other two bitches in the litter, That's the Style was a good producer but not of the same standard as her other two sisters.

Burgess Heather x Skipping Chick

In Mar 75 she whelped a litter to Burgess Heather. This contained the useful Greenfield Fox who won the 77 Pall Mall, 77 English Laurels and the 78 Scurry Cup. He went to stud and his offspring seem to have been sprinters in the main. Also in this litter was the Lady Armada, there is no race record for her but she turned into a very useful brood. In a May 79 litter to Liberty lad she produced Echo Spark who lifted the 81 English Laurels and a useful bitch Skipping Scot who won the Sovereign Stakes at Rye House. Also in this litter was a top dog by the name Citizen Supreme who was a top stud dog of the time. Echo Spark was a more than useful stud dog with his best known dog being Signal Spark who won the 87 English Derby, there was also two other Echo Spark dogs in the race which was an uncommon achievement for the time. Lady Armada whelped a litter to Ballyard Cobbler which produced another useful brood in Cobbling Rose. Her best offspring seem to have been Anneka who won the 87 Greenwich Cup and Spartafitz who won the 87 Easter Cup at Shelbourne. This particular line form Skipping Chick went dead after this.

Kybo Venture x Skipping Chick
Kybo Venture was crossed with Skipping Chick and produced a litter of 3d and 5b in Sept 76. I cant find any records of any racing for this litter, however, Limerick Echo was put to stud and produced some good dogs. A bitch by the name of Loughnatousa was in this litter and produced a few litters. Out of these pups came a bitch by the name of Dalla Mallog, none of the others where bred on with too any note. I will return to Dalla Mallog later in this post.

Peruvian Style x Skipping Chick
April 77, 1 dog and 6 bitches. Taking this litter in order.
Greenfield Chick pops up in the back pedigree of plenty of open class dogs but is best remembered for being the grand dam of Glen Park Dancer who won the 85 Munster Cup and went on to have a reasonable stud career.
Greenfield House appears from the records to not have been as successful as some of her litter mates in the breeding paddocks but still appears in the 3 rd generation of the former 460m track record holder at Wimbledon, Bergens Trolle who done a flying 27.39.

Irenes Chick had a large number of offspring and appears as the grand dam of the following good class dogs;Adam who was 3rd in the 85 English Produce Stakes, Seafield Quest who won the 90 English Puppy Derby and 91 Oxfordshire Gold Cup, Jacks Well who won the 93 Easter Cup and stood at stud. The most notable line to come from Irenes Chick brings me to Rhincrew Sean who won the 93 Irish Produce Stakes and was a success full stud. She also appears on the 3rd generation bottom line of the following competition/group winning dogs; Lively Treasure, King Droopy,Phantom Power,Rhincrew Magic,Claymor Spot.
Lemon Soda was a renowned brood who I will come back to.

Supreme Fun x Skipping Chick
This cross produced a litter in Jan 78 that is registered as 2d and 2b. One of the dogs found his way to America, You Genius, where he stood at stud. I have no records of any racing for this litter. Of the bitches in the litter, Skipping Fun was a good producer. She has 11 pups registered to her from 5 different stud dogs. One bitch in particular stands out, Rhincrew Moth, who won the 83 English Puppy Derby. This line from Skipping Chick appears to have went very quiet since then and hasn't produced anything of note since.

Cairnville Jet x Skipping Chick
A Jan 80 litter to Cairnville Jet appears to have left nothing of any note in the breeding paddocks.

This brings me back to four bitches in particular, Ballinderry Moth, Flying Lady, Dalla Mallog and Lemon Soda.

Lemon Soda when crossed with Bold Work in 82 produced a litter that must rank highly in the best of all time. It contained Curryhills Brute who was exported to stud in Austrailia, Curryhills Fox who held the 435 track record in Dunmore and was unlucky in running in the 84 Irish Derby Final and Skelligs Tiger who was an outstanding race dog. These three all had successful stud careers with "Tiger" in particular leaving behind some outstanding dogs with Mustang Jack a very successful offspring at stud. Of the bitches in this litter only Fizzy Lemon was bred from, she has left us some good class dogs with nothing outstanding to report. Plenty of top class dogs have descended through the daughters of Lemon Soda but it is for this litter of stud dogs that she will be best remembered.

Dalla Mallog whelped two litters to Lindas Champion, one in 83 and one in 85. Whoever made the decision to return the second time deserves great praise as it produced a brood bitch that the Dunphy brothers have built a dynasty around. The first litter produced the 84 Munster cup winner in Lasair Dubh who stood at stud but its the second litter that really interests me. Droopys First was in this litter and her direct offspring reads like a whos who of Irish racing and breeding.

Of her direct offspring Droopys Sandy and Meet me Halfway stand out. The latter contested the 91 Irish laurels final and stood at stud. The former was one of the dogs that developed my interest in dogs. I remember seeing him run in Dunmore when I was a child and the pace he displayed attracted me and I was hooked on dogs from then on. He was the only dog to ever break 23 seconds around Dunmore and went on to win the 94 Scottish Derby. He went to Austrailia to stand at stud shortly after this. However, it was the bitches from Droopys First who where to really leave their mark.

Droopys Aliysa was a result of the Adraville Bridge litter and she produced El Premier and her second generation offspring includes the following speedsters; Droopys Leon, Aggasi, Hewitt and Wells, Frisby Forte, Reactabond Rebel. She sits on the third generation of the following; Droopys Kuyt, Stacey and Bucks.

Ballinderry Moth was a classic winning bitch and she produced pups of her equal. She was mated twice to Lindas Champion and on the second occasion produced Daleys Gold, who says repeat matings dont work! He won the 85 Scurry Cup and was renowned for his blistering early speed, an interesting feature of that years final was that Skipping Chick was the grand dam of three of the six runners. He left behind a dynasty of outstanding race dogs and is still to this day a very desirable addition on any dogs pedigree. Another classic winner in the shape of Westpark Moth who won the 82 Irish Leger before export to the USA, Moth also whelped Westpark City who held the track recors for the 525 in Derry with a time of 29.04 which is really flying as Derry is a very tight track. Swift Rapier won the group class East Anglian Derby in 82 to bolster the line. The second generation of Ballinderry Moth was nothing short of sensational and included the following dogs. Tico, Ballinderry Ash, Droopys Jaguar, Ballinderry Love and Greenane Slippy who all either won classics or contested the finals of them.

Ballinderry Sand, Lady Tico, O'Hickey Silver, Suir Moth all carried on the line a generation and all produced classic winning offspring. Of these four its Ballinderry Sand who has really carried it forward. The following great classic winning dogs all descend directly from this bitch; Deep Decision, Annies Bullet, Farloe Verdict, Droopys Cahill, Droopys Scholes,Razldazl Billy,Droopys Rodger,Loreto Sally and Fear No One. This does not include dozens of other dogs who have won Group races and broken track records. Taken on her own Ballinderry Moth would be a candidate for a best brood award but she is only one of a number that Skipping Chick has produced. Again, a lot of the top offspring from this line have been bred by the Dunphys and they have managed to keep it live to an exceptional degree.

Flying Lady was a litter comrade of Ballinderry Moth and also left a legacy of classic winning broods behind. It was in her second generation offspring that her ability as a brood became evident. Via her daughters she produced the 84 Oaks winner Sandy Sally and the 86 English Laurels winner Ballygroman Jim. Sandy Sally was the only female from this strain of the pedigree to throw anything of note but she more than made up for the rest of them with the high quality of her offspring. Her Sep 86 litter to Moral Support produced two racers from the top drawer in Tracy Budd and Druids Lodge. "Tracy" emulated her dam by winning the Irish Oaks in 88 and was 2nd in the Irish Laurels a year later whilst "Druids" won the 88 Irish Ledger and went on to become a successful stud dog.

The other bitches from this litter where noted broods and between them and their classic winning litter sister and via their daughters produced many top dogs and classic winners including Druids Elprado, Druids Omega, Druids Wally,Mucky Tracy,Staley Vegas,Burberry Boy,Meenela Cruiser, Kanes Blue, Farloe Spiderman, Coventry Bees, El Dante,Sunshine Penny,Extra Dividend and Bypass Byway. This line is still very much live as some of these dogs are currently running in top grade races and indeed a few have live chances in this years English Derby. Very interestingly Blue Streak Lift won the Roberstson Cousing Cup at Altcar to take the line back to its roots somewhat.

Sandy Sally also had a litter in 87 to Lancaster Lucky but it produced nothing of note. It was her 85 litter to Knockrour Slave that initiated my interest in the line. It produced two bitches, Lady Bellamy and Inspiring Site. The latter was exported to America and my late grandfather ended up with his hands on the former. She had already two litters on the ground with no great success but they where to very average sires and he decided she was worth a chance despite the fact that she couldnt lift her legs herself. She was mated to Kyle Jack for her first litter and the results went some way to proving the strength of the line.

The litter where exceptional from a very early age and it was a case of nursing them along till they where ready for racing. The bitch in the litter was sent to Christy O Callaghan as a thank you for securing the dam at 14 weeks and that left three fawn dogs. They where schooling fantasticly well straight up around Dungannon and after a few races for experience they where taken to Dunmore to be got ready for a turn. Moaning Lad won on the first night he was asked on a cold Tuesday night in Dunmore on 18.11.93. There was serious money took out of the ring that night and he won by 8 lenghts in a very sharp 23.80. I was fairly young at the time and I had never seen as much cash in my life as the money was collected after the race, and havent seen as much since! He was entered for the 48 runner Puppy Cup in Dunmore which was a very prestigious competetion at the time, he finished second in the final to Rathcannon Lodge from an unfavourable Trap 5 and was coming with a winning run into the bend but was forced to check badly.

He then went to Dungannon for a 525 and duly hacked up on a night more suited to a fire and a high stool in 29.45 coming from 5 lengths off the pace to win by 6 lenghts. He had done 27.60 for a 500 in a private around Dungannon the week before his 525, in hindsight that run was sensational as the track was into the knees and he would have broke the clock on normal going. Shortly after this my grandfather got a very fair offer for him and accepted it. I often asked him if he regretted it and he said with a forthright honesty absolutly not and retold an old story of another dog he used to own. The dog in question was Lisnamuck who reached the consolation final of the 83 English Derby and who he recieved an offer of £20,000 for after doing a fast run around the old Ramparts in Dundalk. So his motto was to always take a good offer since that day.

His litter brother Cold Clod was an absolute flying machine. From his first schooling trial all the way through he was several lengths ahead of his more illustrious brother. After a few races he was entered in the first round of the Dunmore Puppy Cup also and was backed heavily on the back of some great private trials. Alas "Socks" as he was known turned out to be one of the most frustrating dogs we ever had. To put it politely he turned out to be very chancy! He was moved on to a friend and eventually won a 500 in Dungannon in 29.00 after doing 27.60 in a private the week before! He beat a dog who went to the last 32 of that years Coursind Derby up the Greenbrae in Lifford. The other dog in the litter was Sign Here who was a nice galloping genuine dog who won for us and won in a good grade in England.

The next litter was whelped in Jan 93 to Im Slippy. On paper it was a very similar cross to the Kyle Jack cross and the dogs in the litter where ever bit as pacy as the previous litter. Speckled Jim won a small sweepstake in Dungannon and a good gamble was landed on a couple of his litter brothers. The best out of the litter and indeed the fastest dog that Lady Bellamy ever bred was called Must Be Class. He had everything you would look for in a dog except he was very hard to keep sound. He went to Ballyskeagh for a turn and it was one of the worse things that we ever did. I wont go into what happened during the race but it was the last dog we ever raced at that track. After months of hard work we eventually got him sound again and he won in Dungannon in 27.60 in the first round of a small competition but he was beat the next night and came off lame again. After another few months he was brought back and clocked 23.55 in Dunmore in a private trial. That was the fastest run ever done by any of our dogs in a private in Dunmore as the track always ran a minimum of 20 slow for the morning trials. Disaster struck as I was washing his feet and seen he had torn his web very badly. After various attempts to repair it he was sent over to Theo Menzies but couldnt be kept sound.

Phantom Flash was next on the list for Lady Bellamy and she produced a nice litter of 5d and 2b. For some reason these where a dissapointing litter, I suppose you could put it down to a bad cross.

Her final litter was to the exciting import Frightfull Flash. They didnt dissapoint and there was some very fast dogs amongst the litter. For some reason they all lacked a little bit of trap speed, possibly due to their size as the dam through very big pups, but once they hit the grounnd they where real galloping machines. The best of the litter was a beautiful big 82lb dog who won in Dunmore in 23.60 and in Dungannon in 17.59 and 27.59.

Sadly "Lady" had to be pts as she had developed a large cancer at the relatively young age of 10. For a reason unknown to me we where unable to preserve the line and it is a big regret but I can look back to those happy days when we knew that we had a litter of class dogs to look forward to every year.

So to sum it all up, over the last 25 years this line has produced over 30 classic winners, scores of group winners, numerous track record holders and to top it all of is still producing dogs that will contest classics this year, next year and hopefully for many years to come. It may not be the greatest line of all time but surely its in the upper echelones and definetly the best of recent times.

Test Matings

As I have posted before, we have two bitches at Trade Kennels for mating and another two bitches are due in season at the start of July so its going to be very busy in a couple of months time all being well. I haven't posted much on the blog this week as I have spent most of my spare time on the greyhound-data website.

It is without doubt the greatest tool in assisting with sire selection in existence today. It has in one foul swoop done away with the hours spent looking through old stud books and trying to find the elusive successful "nick" or cross. It has a very lively and informative forum with a wide range of opinions and areas of discussion. Personally I have benefited a great deal from some of the topics, in particular the breeding section which has opened my eyes to the completely different manner that our Australian friends consider a suitable sire and indeed how closely they are prepared to breed.

I have managed to strike up firm friendships via the site and exchanged ideas with greyhound enthusiasts from all corners of the globe. To all those involved in its running we are in your debt.

English Derby 3rd Round

We are down to the last 48 in the English Derby with the 3rd round heats down for decision this Saturday night. Its really starting to get interesting with most of the lesser class dogs out, and a few fancied ones, and there will be no easy qualifying from here on. Of my original three selections, Jaxerback bit the dust in the second round. He was nailed as soon as the lids lifted and that was it all over for him. Its a pity as its time another classic came to the N.W.

Droppys Robinho picked his form up the last night and I'm expecting a really big run from him on Saturday night, he will need to be smartly away or Tyrur Lee will be around his inside and away in a tricky looking heat 7.

Phoenix Paddy is ticking along nicely and will need to be at his very best in what is the heat of the round and of a quality good enough to grace the final. Express Ego in trap 2 is due a big run and Loyal Honcho is 6 is a likely leader and that's before Larkhill Jim and Farloe Jester are taken into account. If Paddy finishes in the first 3 it will definitely be a case of "job done".

Catunda Harry

This lad really caught my eye a couple of weeks back when he clocked 28.55 in Shelbourne on a night when Express Ego clocked 28.80. He ran in the first round of an open puppy comp in Limerick last week and won in 28.58 which was slightly back on what I thought he was capable off. Well tonight he certainly set the record straight. 27.99!!

A new national and track record. Limerick has been running quicker than normal of late but I have yet to see a track record set on anything other than a quick track. Harry is very nicely bred, Elite State x Your So Vain. His dam is a Larkhill Jo bitch out of Catunda Lace, the dam of Blackstone Lace who through Irish Derby winner Like a Shot, from the Maythorn Pride line so its not to hard to explain how this lad can run. If he stays he will be a contender for the Irish Derby.

Gallops

I have spent the last few months researching various different types of all weather gallops. I'm badly hamstrung at the minute with the hard ground and not being able to get the saplings galloped before taking them to the track. Its fine the last few days with the rain as the ground has eased but that wont last any longer than a week before it becomes too risky to let them off the lead.

There are 3 options that I'm considering.

1. Starmat
If money was no object this would be the first choice every time. Joe Hurley deserves a lot of credit for developing the product at his schooling track in Gulladuff. A very safe surface which requires minimal maintenance and can be used in literally any conditions.

2. Fibresand
There is a great members gallop along side the coursing field in Lifford that uses a similar product, I will post a picture of it on Monday. Fibresand is a product that I wouldn't be overly familiar with but I watched a couple of dogs coming up this gallop during the week and they never missed a stride and seemed to enjoy the surface beneath their feet.

3. Sawdust/Sand
I am swaying towards using this material. It has been used with great success by a lot of trainers and is very much a proven product. I was collecting a bitch at Newpark Stud a while back and was very impressed with theirs, although it was more sawdust than sand. It had been very dry for the previous two weeks but the gallop was not hard and a dog would have got its toe nicely into it. It had a nice "spring" to it which would give something back to the dog as he pushed his stride off it. The only problem with this type of gallop could be the availability of the sawdust. Since wood pellet burners for central heating became the latest fad all supplies of sawdust that sawmills would have had have been diverted to pellet production, so once where you could have got them for nothing and just had to pay haulage you now have to pay for them, and that's if there for sale at all.

I plan to start work on the gallop in early August so I still have a while to make my mind up.

New Arrivals

I'm delighted to report that the first litter of pups has arrived since we moved to Drumscraw. Mottos Friend whelped a lovely litter of 4 dogs and 4 bitches to Go Wild Teddy, all blacks. Sadly the last pup to be born was very slow to come and didn't survive. The litter are doing very well and Motto is a fantastic mother. I had quite a job identifying if they where dogs or bitches as any time I touch a pup Motto bares her teeth to protect her brood!

She very nearly caught me out as I checked her at 5pm yesterday evening and although she had nested there where no contractions. I was feeding the other brood bitches when I heard her yelping and raced back into the whelping kennel just in time to see the first pup arrive. Having had a litter before she wasted no time in removing the sac, cleaning the pup and lifting it in to suckle. Pups followed almost on the hour until 11pm. She had 7 at that stage and I wasn't sure if she had finished yet or was just taking a breather. I left her to take care of them and retreated to the house to watch her via the CCTV. At around 1am she started having contractions again. This pup was very slow to come and I was very close to ringing the vet when he finally arrived at 2.45, a very big black dog who was stillborn. Thankfully Motto was fine and after realising that pups fate went back to feeding the others.

One think that did surprise me was how cold it was last night. After spending all week looking for fans to keep the bitch and pups cool I had to go up into the loft and search for a heat lamp which I was very glad worked on the first try. I will post a few more pictures as these babies start to grow and leave their mark on all at Drumscraw.

Grass Cutting

A word of advice for anyone reading this. Don't ever cut 5 acres of grass with a strimmer! My back is broke but I'm glad to say that the paddocks have got the first cut for the year. It shouldn't be as hard too maintain them after this if I keep on top of it every couple of weeks. The next investment will definitely be a tractor lawnmower. I would have no bother getting any of the brothers in law to cut the pens with a tractor and topper but its too sore on the ground and leaves it rutted as I discovered last year and then had to fill all the ruts with sand.

Mottos Friend is starting to get very quiet of herself, she is a very lively bitch by nature, and I would think she will pup tomorrow night. I will keep an eye on her through the CCTV tonight just to be on the safe side but I don't think there will be any new arrivals in Drumscraw tonight.

http://www.greyhound-data.com/dbtestmating.php?&sireid=92089&damid=479323

I'm looking forward to there arrival, they will in fact be the first litter to be whelped in the new kennels.

Busy Times!

Colette was away for the weekend which left me very busy and I'm only getting a chance to update the blog at this late hour on Monday night. Its been a hectic couple of days at Drumscraw. Maureens Angel came in season on Saturday morning, she had been showing signs since Thursday night or Friday morning that a season was imminent and my suspicions where confirmed when I was doing the rounds on Saturday morning. She is kenneled with Pablos Jewel and you don't have to be a clairvoyant to guess what came next. On Sunday morning Pablo was standing at the kennel door almost laughing at me when I checked her and seen she had come in season too! Angel is a good 4 months late and I'm convinced that its the current spell of good weather that has brought her on.

After most of the day spend on the "breeders bible" greyhound data below are the crosses that myself and my uncle have settled on. As I'm writing this both bitches are with Len McKinney on the road to Trade Kennels and an appointment with John Tuohy.

http://www.greyhound-data.com/dbtestmating.php?&sireid=495830&damid=569029
http://www.greyhound-data.com/dbtestmating.php?&sireid=675014&damid=611563

It was another sweltering hot day on Sunday and not much cooler today but I'm glad to say that all the dogs are coping really well. The weather forecast is giving a change with thunder on the way so I took the opportunity to cut the grass in the paddocks. Its a curse of a job for the first cut of the year but its not too bad after that, its done now anyway!

Mottos Friend is doing well and I'm preparing myself to sit up on Wednesday night as if the weather is warm I'm pretty sure she wont pup till night time

This Heat

This morning at 11.30 the temperature outside was 24 degrees! I'm not a fan of very hot weather and the dogs are struggling in the conditions. It will probably reach 26/27 this afternoon and the forecast is for more of the same. Mottos Friend who is due to pup in the middle of next week is now happily lying on the clod tiles in the kitchen, the wife's away for the weekend so every one's happy! Thankfully Elish called over this morning whilst on a call out in the area and cast her eye over them just to be on the safe side. She is Colettes sister in law and the local vet which is handy. She is a great girl who wouldn't be too knowledgeable about greyhounds in particular but is a great help with the basics such as whelping, vaccinations and first aid.

She give some good commonsense advice of plenty of shade, plenty of cold fresh water and a quiet environment. It will be a day for turning the dogs out to empty and nothing else, they hopefully might get out walking this evening when in cools down a bit. I don't know how our American and Australian counterparts cope with these conditions on a regular basis.

The English Derby

It all kicked off tonight at Plough Lane. I don't know much about the English dogs but of the Irish challengers I like the following;

Droppys Robinho
He has a turn of early pace that has to be seen to be believed and will see out the 4 bends. Really impressive in Lifford and I have a few pounds on him at fancy odds, he is a silly price now.

Phoenix Paddy
Again very impressive in Lifford, he done 28.35 by my reckoning when winning the open 550 competition. That would take him very close to winning outright at Wimbledon. I backed him after he broke the track record in Lifford the first night and my only concern would be his Newbridge form since then. Can do it from the traps or coming from behind.

Jaxerback
Very fast away dog with a 2.00 sectional in Shelbourne. He is great value, I have him at 125/1, considering he has beat Express Ego fair and square and Shinagaun Stan has franked the form very nicely in the Oaks.

Long Tails!

Whilst out walking the brood bitches the other morning I was met by a couple of the long tailed fellas casually strolling up the road to meet me. If you look closely at the top left hand corner you should be able to see one of the pair. They came forward till they where no more than 20 yards from me and then realised what all the commotion was. They turned on their heels and back up the road flat out. It was a very refreshing sight and it certainly brightened up the older ladies morning, I'm glad I hadn't Belle with me or I could have been going up the road after them on my mouth and nose!

A Nasty Experience

A lot has happened since I last posted on the blog. I got an innocuous enough bite from one of the pups and thought nothing of it. It got infected and turned into a case of blood poisoning! Colette isn't far wrong when she says I take better care of the dogs than myself! So I was confined to bed for the most of a week after spending a full day in A&E only to be sent home with anti-biotics. I was even sicker when my uncle turned out a good winner on Sunday night in Lifford and I wasn't there to relieve the bookies of some cash!

http://www.bng.ie/Greyhounds.aspx?id=74A78111-51F4-436C-A393-95B439A72B19

5/2 was the best price about her but she was a penalty kick from the inside box as she has been crying out for it. She was slowly away and didnt start running till the 3rd bend and just got up with 25 yards to go. She could have the makings of a nice 6 bend bitch. She has been unlucky with seasons and niggles to date.

http://www.bng.ie/Greyhounds.aspx?id=7008A03D-D5A1-4A19-BD4F-282E88A4EF2A
Colettes Delight, my wifes dog, made his debut last Saturday night but never figured in a very strong betting heat with both the winner and second bet for serious money. The winner is very nicely bred and from a decent looking litter.

Things are starting to get back to normal after me being sick, I hope to get a lot of schooling down over the next 2 weeks to see where a lot of the dogs are going. If they arent shaping up it will be a new home for some!