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.
1 comment:
Great read Paul. Keep up the great posts. All the best, Neil
Post a Comment