Saturday, 26 May 2007

New Camera









I purchased a new SLR and Video camera this morning to use on the various websites and with the family. I went up to Monmore as two of my dogs to follow were running. Island Harbour seemed to have a bit of fortune when the leader appeared to wait and let him win at a generous 4/1. Forte Azzuro then won the next at 7/2, Micheal Harris dog lead up in an Open in March and looked sure to lead up. I have posted two photos one a bit arty and one of the dogs leaving the traps.

Friday, 25 May 2007

No Fizz in Champagne

Both Bubbly Classic and Casino both ran at Walthamstow last night. Classic does appear to show signs of flame is blowing out, perhaps last years hard Derby campaign had a long term effect on him. Casino took her race up on the 4th bend and looked to be going very well. Not sure if she blew up or did not stay. The Champagne Club have purchased a number of extra dogs of which I decided to take a share in mainly due to I couldn't see how they were going to escpilse what we achieved last year with Classic. On the evidence it looks like I made the right decision.

Monday, 21 May 2007

Smooth Moss


I first spotted Smooth Moss when I started to do the website for ZigZag kennels. She was running on strong in A4 races at Hull. Her pedigree (Smooth Rumble x Mossley Pusher) was made for a longer trip and her brother in Ireland Westmead Force was earning rave reviews. On the basis of this and discussions with my Syndicate side kick the Silver Fox I purchased her for just £800 for the Jimmy in Boys. In her first trial over six bends she recorded 38.15 so we instantly knew we had a good bitch. She could never land an S1 but always won when eased by the grader. She ran in two Opens and her best effort was to finish third at Monmore in the Ladbrokes Gold Cup 835. She was retired to the paddocks as agreed with ZigZag. She had a litter of four pups to Brookside Bear which included a cracking Blue Brindle dog. Tragically Mossy and her pups were caught in the terrible fire at ZigZag and all were lost. She will always hold a special place in all our memorys.

Sunday, 20 May 2007

Easy on a Sunday Morning


For me one of the best things about owning the dogs is visiting them at a weekend and taking them for a walk. The dogs love the attention and to get out to see the countryside. I'm very lucky as both Martin's and Lance's kennels are in lovely parts of the countryside. I have posted three snaps - two taken this morning and one in the same spot two years ago. Hows the we all get old!!! The Prince(Lisa's Invader) is a own big personality and is great with the kids. He might not win a Derby but he's a real favoutie with us.

Swindon Gamble Folied

You can't win them all and you must be able to take the beatings to enjoy the good days. The bookies got some money back last night as Henry missed his lines at the start and despite runnning on well he couldn't catch the A1 dogs. There was a good turn out by the Global Greyhounds syndicate.

Friday, 18 May 2007

Favourite Pups Currently

On my travels its great to see all the super litters people have. On my recent visit to ireland I called in to the Shelbourne Stud where they always have a top class range of pups. Shelbourne Star's latest litter to World Class were taking there first steps outside and looked fantastic. The pup on the right was a Just the Best x Shelbourne Star. He was a lovely strong pup.

Down in Kerry I saw two cracking litters At Mark Ryalls. He had a Droopys Kewell x Bleak House (Ardkill Jamies sister) and a Ballymac Maeve x Maries Decision.

Over at ZigZag a couple of litters have taken my eye other than ZigZag Chewie. Mossley Pusher has a young litter to Hotshow Ben. This looks to be a great cross. Perhaps there is another Bar the Devil to come. ZigZag Bullets litter to Droopys Woods looks very nice but well out of my price range.

Pups or Ready Made ?

Ask me whether you are best buying pups or ready made race dogs and you would always get the same head scratching answer from me- I don't know, depend on your needs.

Pups are great fun with the expectation that you dream about for so long, will this be the one. Probably most will never live up to your dreams but you normally do still enjoy the dreaming and the racing as you are going full circle with the dogs.

I see it as a case of just keep throwing darts at the dartboard in the end, one will hit the bull’s eye. Well let’s hope any way. The problem is that you will probably get an offer you can’t refuse for the dog and circle starts again.

Ready made dogs are now available much cheaper on the graded size. My good friend Dave Yanez has started a service where he will source a dog from the sales or a source for a one off arrangement fee. http://www.gemfindersgreyhoundservice.com/

This is a must use service for any greyhound owner or trainer.

You often get offers for dogs through established and new contacts. The established ones are much the best. The money you pay is exactly what you get. The likes of Charles Picking at ZigZag and Brian/John at Shelbourne treat everyone as they should be and will do everything what they can for you and the dogs.

Occasionally you make take a chance on something else. Through a friend of a friend I’ve picked up a dog from Kerry that seems a snip and open to improvement. Those first days while you wait for dog and him to have his first run can be nervous times. If the dog was to run terrible and miss grading it open a lot more instant work. You may have to move him on to a smaller track at little or no cost. Time will tell.


Chewie Video-Better Quality next time!!

Week Report

The Prince (Lisas Invader) got completley taken out at the first corner today at Monmore. Hopefully he came off sound. I have an early morning tomorrow as I'm collecting a new dog from Micheal Power the transporter at 4.00am!! Postive Outlook is an an A1 tomorrow at Swindon and has got his favourite Trap 2. Would be great to see him lead up and take the A1.

Wednesday, 16 May 2007

Droopys Clichy

I've had a few different dogs with the best probably being Droopys Clichy owned with friend Paul Ephremsen (who owned Droopys Woods). Clichy won opens at Monmore, Coventry and Henlow, finishing second in the Mark Hill Puppy Derby Final and reached the Semi Final of the Ocean Trailers Puppy Stakes at Walthamstow. I'll always remember Clichy remember as the dog that landed my first Open Race. Clichy was sold on when we recieved an offer we wanted for the dog.

Blue Amarillo

Top Honcho * Mind the Way

Kennel Name :- Belle

Belle was owned in partnership with my Dave Yanez (who owned and spotted Amerillo Slim). Bought out of Clonmel and having the same dam as Select Stakes winners & Derby finalist Cleeans Lady. Belle looked as if she was going to be a serious bitch like her brothers Line of Fire and Handy Princess. Sadly nature took its cause so she was sent to Paul McCusker at his marvellous kennel establishment at Drumcraw near Lifford. Hopefully she will produce some pups as quick as her family.

Spanish Archer

Droopys Caesar * Gold Madam

Owned in partnerhip with four Kerry men. The dogs is being reared by the legendry Paddy Flaherty in Lixnaw.

The dog is now over 100 lb in weight.

Fingers crossed he will be aimed at an early Trial Stake in the season ahead.

Bubbly Casino

Judicial Preview * Sportsmans Jazz

Owned again as part of the Champagne Club Syndicate. Casino has already broken the 625 metre track record at Coventry. She will return to winning ways now she has had from her seasonal break. Casino was an added bonus on owning shares in Bubbly Classic and Tojo.

ZigZag Pirate

Solve the Puzzle * Dopeys Return

Kennel Name :- Bertie

Owned in partnership with my business partner of Yoursitedesigned.com. Bertie(Kennel name) has joined the kennel of Lance Burford in Wombourne. We have given him plenty of time to mature. He has already shown plenty of promise in his trials at Coventry.
His dam is sister to English Oaks winner Sadlers Return. He game off sore last week so has weeks off before he can resume to action.

Bubbly Classic

Top Honcho * Kincraig Duchess

I've always wanted a runner in the worlds ultimate competition the "Greyhund Derby" .

When the opportunity came along to purchase a share of Classic and Bubby Tojo I jumped at the chance. I had seen Classic (He's a Duke) run well at Shelbourne and thought he would be ideal.

He made his debut in February 2006 and won live on Sky on the same night Tojo won aswell. Classic reached the Semi Final just missing out on a final spot by a length. He won his Quarter Final in 28.52 which as only beaten by the mighty Westmead Hawk in the final.

Positive Outlook

Droopys Kewell * Middle Hocho

Kennel Name :- Henry

Syndicate owned by Global Greyhounds.Com. Purchased on a 29.27 win at Shelbourne Park, has so far had a number of health problems since arriving. The dog is now under the care of Kevin Hutton at Swindon. Kevin has given this dog a new lease of life. In his first race race he stormed home in an A2, landed a big off course betting coup. The syndicate has members in America, Ireland and England. He's got us all looking forward with a POSITIVE OUTLOOK. The video clips below are care of Dave Yanezour syndicate Manager. The first one shows Henrys UK debut at Monmore and the second is Henry at Kevins Kennels.






Lisa's Invader

Larkhill Jo * Paddys Hero

Kennel Name :- The Prince

Lisa's Invader is owned in partnership with my good irish friend Ray Allen. Bought as a sapling and reared by Mark Ryall in County Kerry, Ireland. He's a lovely dog with great personality.

Currently based at Monmore Green and trained by Martin Burt at Monmore Green. Runs over 4 and 6 bends. We were told by a Kerry vet that the Prince would never race. He's proved them wrong by already winning seven races already and quickly filling the Trophy cabinet up.

History - Comical Raffles

The syndicate was formed back in 2003 following a good night out at Hall Green dogs by our regular pub quiz team. The following week one of the lads how much would it cost to buy a dog!!

We all ask a few pals to gauge interest. We had fourteen instant takers and we purchased an unraced Spiral Nikita dog out of Tralee for just £1000. We named him Comical Raffles and had a kennel name of Robbie.

Expecting to get a A4 dog at best Robbie romped home in an A2 at Hall Green on his debut at 8/1. The following week he landed a tough A1 when we punted the dog. During his Hall Green career he was trained by Mark Barlow.

After a couple of disappointing runs we decided to switch Robbie to Monmore Green. The curves of the bends would be much kinder on the dog. Under the care of Martin Burt he stormed up the grades. He was a regular winner in A2/A3 grades but could't quite beat the big boys. He did go to beat Monmore Gold Cup Winner Loughteen Bandit.

He won 13 races in total on won over £3000 in prize money which was amazing. We had a number of big nights where all the syndicate attended.

Upon his retirement the syndicate found a new home for him in our home town where he lives to this day. I'm still in touch with his owners and try and drop down to see him when possible.

Tuesday, 15 May 2007

Chewie Joins the Team

Following two successful ownerships with Comical Raffles and Smooth Moss, the syndicate have secured a young pup that was born in March 2007.


The pup is bred Knockabout Wok x Zigzag Peggy.

Wok was rated the fastest dog is Australia before retiring and has already thrown winners in his stud career to date.

Peggy is an unraced bitch, as she broke her hock when young. She is from a repeat mating of Droopys Kewell (Larkhill Jo x Perrys Pusher) making her and her pups of real value. The pup is a beauty, a big blue dog with a striking white blaze down his face.

The idea is to rear him in Lincoln before sending him to Ireland for finishing and schooling. He would then return to a Midlands based trainer selected to suit the dogs ability.

Lynne Farmer has kindly offered to have the dog in retirement as a pet should her circumstances at the time be suitable. The welfare of the dog will be paramount at all times.

As always I will try and keep you up to date with photos, snippets of news and hopefully the odd video clip. All issues are discussed by email or in person.

The confirmed members are :-

N Duggan / B Grieve / L Farmer / R Evans/ C Wheeler / P Swan all from the existing syndicate.

(ND/ BG / LF all left there money in the syndicate bank account so their payments are different)

Heather Wheeler will be a new member and also has a friend who is very interested along with Paul. If they could forward this information on to the interested parties it would help.

Payment Plan for Existing members
£20 on 25th May / July / October / January 2008 / and £30 in April 2008

Payment Plan for New Members -
£100 on 25th May / £20 July / October / January 2008 / and £30 in April 2008

Once the pup reaches racing age we will split the kennel bills by equal shares once any prizemoney has been taken out. Our first dog won over £3500 in prizemoney.

This is an opportunity to have some great fun for a small outlay. Greyhounds are very high risk, some don’t make the track. You can be rest assured our sapling will have every chance to make the most of his ability and I’ll use all my established contacts to every second count.

Should you wish to leave before the dog retires we would expect a contribution toward his rehoming. (Insurance and Bed). We don’t allow shares to be resold unless we are all in agreement.
Once the dog reaches racing age will have social evenings at the track, some organised, some not. You will always be able to watch your dog for free unless the rules change(unlikely).

Hopefully you will all make some new friends and we will all share the days on the winner’s rostrum.