His Royal Highness Jameson

On the Jameson front not so good news at the moment. His cut on his pad is still not great and is struggling to heal. My mate said it's like a pair of old worn our shoes. Paul has to carry him on to the grass, fair lump of weight to carry around. He has developed in to a cracking leggy dog who has all the assets, looks fantastic. He very much has his royal attitude as previous and thinks he has already won a Derby! He does like the staff to know he is the man, always letting them know he is about. Dave thinks he would need a bit of personal attention if he went into a big kennel, could well be lost without this. Something for us to think about.

Slim Amarillo

Slim Amarillo our first pup out of Blue Amarillo is going nicely under the care of Mr McCusker in Northern Ireland. He recorded a time well inside grading on his first run our of the traps and is improving stacks after every run. His litter sister has gone to Hall Green and has been flying at the schooling track. Promising months ahead !!

Droopys Maldini x Blue Amarillo Pups

These photographs were kindly taken by Blue Amarillo co owner Dave "Graphics" Yanez this weekend over at Paul McCusker's Drumscraw Kennels. This is Belle's second litter of pups. This litter are by Droopys Maldini and they gave the impression they will be even better than the first Boherduff Light litter. More on that in a future post. For those who have been reading the blog for a long time I was at Paul's when the litter were delivered. I'm sure you will agree they look magnificent.

Ninja Jamie - A Bit of Value

On rare occasions you see a bit of value that tempts you. This morning I couldn't believe my eye's as I skimmed the Racing Post to see Ninja Jamie highlighted by Richard Birch at 33/1 for the English Derby. This impeccably bred dog out of Farloe Oyster murdered a quality field by over 8 lengths when winning the Yarmouth Derby and taking the track record at the same time. After speaking to the lads we decided to trouble Mr Hill for a few quid each way only to quoted 40/1!!!

Flying Pups in Futurity

The highly touted Bandicoot Tipoki was well and truly put his place last Monday up at Nottingham by the Steve race home bred Head iton Ellis. His time of 30.31 for 500 metres marks him down as a serious dog for follow for 2009. The draw is so important to this class of animal and Monday will see a rematch in the final with draw favouring Tipoki. As result to look out for. (Misc image)

No Fear of Knocking Zafonic

You had to admire the pace of Fear Zafonic as he ran away with the first Category One title of 2009 by taking the £6,500 final of the Birmingham Cup over 480m at Perry Barr.

My antepost bet Mountjoy King led in to the first corner until Zafonic bustled his way to to front forcing us to just count our each way money. Never in danger afterwards, he pulled away to beat Goldcrest King by four and a half lengths in 28.44sec, with early leader Mountjoy Gold a further length and a half away back in third.Fingers crossed for Affleck Elite who looked to have suffered a nasty injury and the run to the first bend.

William Hill Birmingham Cup

I managed to get to Perry Barr with my old buddy Dave Yanez on Friday. I was very keen to see Derby favourite Fear Zafonic in action. He looked to be needing the run slightly from a winter off as Affleck Elite beat him on the line for a short-head victory in fastest time of night, 28.31sec.

The Mark Wallis-trained Eye Onthe Brave landed the first heat just beating the fast finishing Killough Belles. Wallis also won Heat 3 with Goldcrest King. Little Jig really caught eye when winning her heat before the Paul Sallis trained Driving Up Pal won the next heat. In the last heat of the night my antepost bet Mountjoy Gold (20/1) was just beaten by Shaneboy Luke but qualified for next Friday Semi Final's.

Semi Final Draw - first: 1 Goldcrest King, 2 Bawna Boy, 3 Affleck Elite, 4 Hillcross Hobbs (m), 5 Driving Up Pal (w), 6 Toosey Blue (w).

Second: 1 Bawnfune Mal, 2 Fear Zafonic, 3 Darkdesert Fancy, 4 Anfi Ace, 5 Mall Nosey, 6 Shaneboy Luke (m).

Third: 1 KilloughBelles, 2 Directors Ruler, 3 Little Jig, 4 Mountjoy Gold, 5 Eye Onthe Brave, 6 Cabra Boss (m).

Chris Allsopp Web Site Finished

I finally managed to finish off Chris Allsopp's website this week. The site did take a lot longer than expected but I'm sure you will see for yourself the site is very tidy and has plenty of articles of interest. I've also posted a number of video's on You Tube.

No Happy New Year for Prince

The Prince got a face full of sand and a split web in his tough A2 tonight at Monmore. On very slow going he got in all sorts of trouble but battled on hard to finish forth. Dog to follow Special Foxi landed some nice bets for the followers when winning very well in the A5. Two to follow from tonight's meeting are Rostov Star and puppy Swift Expert, both ran well in poor outside going.

Chris Allsopp - New Web Site

I spent the morning up at Chris Allsopps Kennels this morning as he approached me to undertake a website and photo shoot for him. He looks to have some super dogs in the kennel at the moment of different ages including Burnpark Champ, Droopys Ivanovic, Rev Counter and Cabra Fly. I will keep you posted on it's progress.

Sire Stats 2008

Looking at the Sire statistics for 2008 for England & Ireland is looks like a number of the younger sires are flying up the table. Crash (pictured left) looks to one to side with as his young offspring are looking to be very precocious. Only last week Tip and Tin won the 50,000 euro National Puppy Stake at Shelbourne Park, by the looks of it Crash could be rising even higher next year. Top Honcho remains No.1 with son Droopys Vieri chasing hard in behind. Droopys Maldini is just one place behind Droopys Kewell in 6th. With Ballymac Maeve in 12th I'm guessing we could loose another of the old guard our the top ten next year. With two pups due for graduation out of Yeah Man and Boherduff Light the future is looking very hopeful.

2008 Round UpTrack

This was a funny year with the dogs, Wathamstow's closure was a reminder to us all that unless the industry looks after itself more tracks will face closure. Lisa's Invader proved age was no barrier to success as he recording ten wins for thirty one starts. Some record for a dog turning four in February 2009. Avenue Guide had a tough win just four times from thirty nine starts. The 480 metre trip is a little to tough for him. The year ahead promises alot with two pups due to graduate from Mr McCusker's Northern Ireland Kennels. Lets hope those two are as honest and fun as the Prince. Happy New Year.