Sep 2009
Where is our sport going
29/09/09 17:18 Filed in: Stories
As the topic header says “ Where is our sport going”!
Throughout this year I have heard many many people criticise the GBGB and in my opinion I honestly felt that they had been a bit hasty and that we really needed to be giving them the time they deserved, I wanted to see a bit more positivity in our sport as opposed the usual negative chat and was really hoping that we could drag ourselves up from the gutter, sadly, and it really does hurt me to say it, but I really feel worried at the direction our sport is taking, as owners run away in their droves, and we are hardly appealing to newcomers, we must ask ourselves what can be done to turn it around.
Firstly we need to concentrate on existing owners as we can ill afford them walking/running away, we need to make them feel that they are wanted and needed and not just seen as a provider of a product for others to gain money from, the promoters at tracks could be doing their bit by laying on certain things for owners, Trophy Nights, Discounted Meals, buffets etc etc, the list could be endless but just make them feel that they are respected.
We then need to be looking at ways of introducing new blood into our sport, not exactly easy but we really need to be trying otherwise we will be up the proverbial in the not too distant future, I personally would like to see tracks offer up free ownership of a dog for a night, this could be a free draw on a Saturday night and the winner gets to own a selected ( A trainer/owned 1 perhaps) dog the following week, perhaps give a table for 4 in their restaraunt for free and the winning connections get to speak to the trainer about the dog and go meet and get photographs with their dog, possibly could be offered to come visit the dog at the kennels, with 52 of these a year, at every track in the country, I am certain that a few new owners would be had through this idea.
We need to educate non owners on the different ways to get involved in the sport, syndicates being the ideal start with the view to possibly following up in time to own their own dog, each track should have a designated person to go speak to its patrons.
At this current moment our sport is a bit disjointed and a little split is occurring over Association rights for trainers, personally I feel that instead of people campaigning for the right to join the GTA, it may be more useful in campaigning for the abolishment of different licences and having EVERY trainer under the same title, after all how can they say that someone with say 4 dogs is not a professional and yet someone with 15 is, IMO 1 licence would put an end to split associations, obviously the formation of a new association would be welcomed and would have my backing, we need to have a sense of unity now and a voice for ALL concerned not just a few privy trainers although I can understand why the larger trainers would be a bit cautious as they have alot more to lose than your 1 man and his dog type and if for instance a strike was voted on it is the larger trainers that would suffer big time were as Joe Bloggs with his 2 dogs could swallow this type of action.
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Opinions if you may....
28/09/09 13:38 Filed in: Stories
I would be very interested to hear anyones views on who you would use as a sire with the following broods and if possible your reasons why, I have my ideas and it will be interesting to see if others agree or totally disagree, you can leave your ideas in the comments section at the bottom of this post.
Questhouse Lucy... Droopys Rosari... Final Rose... Millies Award and Questhouse Sash
Recent winners from the kennel are Bonnie Ben at Crayford, Foulden Rebel at Portsmouth, Bonjour Paula and Oxford Don x2 at Nottingham, Ashbys Hawk, Ebony Chaser, Revengeful Demon Baron Samedi and Sugar Fix at Hove, Moorland Rob and Cinammon Sal x2 at Belle Vue, Jazz Rasta at Coventry, Bellpac Philly, Andreas Quest and Questhouse Misty X2 at Newcastle, Opening Quest x2 at Wimbledon, Trejon Scholes at Perry Barr.
This brings the Kennel Total winners to 831
Questhouse Lucy... Droopys Rosari... Final Rose... Millies Award and Questhouse Sash
Recent winners from the kennel are Bonnie Ben at Crayford, Foulden Rebel at Portsmouth, Bonjour Paula and Oxford Don x2 at Nottingham, Ashbys Hawk, Ebony Chaser, Revengeful Demon Baron Samedi and Sugar Fix at Hove, Moorland Rob and Cinammon Sal x2 at Belle Vue, Jazz Rasta at Coventry, Bellpac Philly, Andreas Quest and Questhouse Misty X2 at Newcastle, Opening Quest x2 at Wimbledon, Trejon Scholes at Perry Barr.
This brings the Kennel Total winners to 831
Spooky!
23/09/09 18:07
Whilst taking some snaps of the pups I somehow managed to capture this 1, very spooky if you ask me and whilst I may have shouted " Off with his head" before I did not literally mean it.
The 2 sets of Premier Fantasys continue to impress me and I am actually very excited at the thought of them going schooling, they look proper specimens and have the right mix that you want to see in pups.
The Score Legend pups will be on their way next week to Ireland with the view to starting their schooling and they will be going there looking an absolute picture, the bitches are very hyper and thus carry no excess weight and Bones(1 of the dog pups) who was poorly as a baby has really flourished and is the boss of the litter, Mouse Trap who dwarfs them all is the shy 1 in the litter.
The Jazz Hurricane pups are coming on well and at this stage look completely different than her Kewell litter were, these pups look much rangier and on looks I would tend to think they will be stayers, the Kewell pups where full of raw power and built for it as well, initial runs from the Kewell pups point to good times ahead, heres hoping for all concerned.
The Miss Wonderful pups are beginning to fill out quite nicely as can be seen by the pic of Jimmy(Trap 3 jacket on) and a video will be online very shortly.
Baby Marges pups are on the move a bit more now and as such they are starting to grow nicely, Marge does not have much milk on her and so I will most likely take her away completely this week, at the moment she goes away from them through the day and goes with them at night.
Droopys Lenas pups are doing really well and I really like these, as already said it is nice to see a bit of colour for a change, Lenas pups by Maldini are doing everything right at the schooling track and I know that at least 1 set of connections are over the moon, infact they are quite excited at what they have seen, fingers crossed we get that bit of luck.
Questhouse Lucy and Droopys Rosari shall be coming over from Ireland to here in the next few weeks, Millies Award will be left with Ian as she is very settled there and I know just how much they love her, I cannot thank Ian enough and the job he does is second to none and I trust him 150%
Droopys Lena's beauties
20/09/09 22:05 Filed in: update
Here are Droopys Lenas pups to Hondo Black at one week old, coming on a treat and being cared for lovely by Lena.
Lenas first litter to Maldini have just started schooling and the initial feelings are 1 of very high optimism
Srart em young!
20/09/09 21:55 Filed in: Stories
I know that some pups are getting schooled young but Jimmy is taking things to the extreme, I had to have a word with him and explain that he has 10 months to wait, not very sure if it has lodged on his brain yet but I suppose being 4 months old gives him some sort of excuse.. Pups name is Jimmy and is Owned by The Ross Family and his breeding is Droopys Maldini x Miss Wonderful.
Sports Track Challenge
18/09/09 15:02 Filed in: Stories
There are plans to create a regular informal get together amongst Greyhound Staff, Owners, Trainers etc to be called the ‘Sports Track Challenge’.
They are hoping to trial this in the South and if successful will branch out all over the country. Currently the tracks involved are Harlow, Romford, Crayford, Henlow, Sittingbourne and Wimbledon.
Staff from these tracks will get together at Harlow’s Harlequin Suite for an informal night of Poker, Darts and Pool. It is hoped that they will meet every 2-4 weeks on a Sunday with a 4pm start and it is open to anyone involved with greyhounds. The bigger this becomes then leagues can be introduced and eventually football matches arranged and inter-track greyhound racing.
This will go to all tracks and a proposed introductory first date will be on Sunday 27th September which is the date of the 40th Greyhound Breeders Festival. This starts at 1pm and anyone interested in the get together can stay at the same venue from 6pm onwards.
There is hope this will spread up to the Midlands and to Northern tracks too.
If anyone is interested in sponsorship or any other info, please contact Maurice Newman on 0208 925 7915 or Mick Davis at the stadium on 01279 426804.
The address for those who don’t know it is: Harlow Greyhound Stadium, The Pinnacles, Roydon Road, Harlow, Essex CM19 5DY.
First handslips
14/09/09 23:40 Filed in: update
I have just been sent video of two of Droopys Lenas dog pups having their first handslip at Ockendon which can be viewed on Lenas Movie Page, as it stands the 4four dogs have all been handslipped (two in Ireland) and three of the bitches have been handslipped and all have gone at the first time of asking, thats all we want to hear.
New Droopys Lenas
11/09/09 18:19 Filed in: update
I am pleased to announce that Droopys Lena has given birth to 5 Dogs and 5 Bitches, the sire is Hondo Black and I am really looking forward to rearing these, all went very well and Lena is providing beautifully for her babies, nice to see some colour put in the pups as it was getting a bit monotonous having black pups running around everywere.
Click here to view the new gallery
Click here to view the new gallery
Miss Wonderfuls...looking Wonderful
06/09/09 21:25 Filed in: update
New pics now available for the Droopys Maldini x Miss Wonderful litter click here .....check them out .
Talisker Skye
05/09/09 15:15 Filed in: Stories
Congratulations to Skye (pictured above) on his win in his very first race at Geldrops, as per usual he, along with all their other dogs, have been expertly handled by Roger and Karen Thomman from Switzerland, this pup is from Millies Awards debut litter and joins his brother who won at the second time of asking at Tralee in 29-15.
Skye is racing from Trap 4.
Recent Winners
04/09/09 14:24 Filed in: Stats
Dickos Marc x2 and Questhouse Em at Sheffield, Bonnie Ben x2 at Crayford, Regale Savana x2, Adios Amigo x2, Baron Samedi and Ebony Chaser at Hove, Shimano Cypo at Henlow, Oxford Don and Bonjour Paula at Nottingham, Crooked Duke at Newcastle and Vote For Pedro at Belle Vue.
This brings the total kennel winners to 810.
The kennels are quite busy right now what with the Westmead Hawk x Score Legend pups being lead trained in preparation for them leaving in a months time, the 2 sets of Premier Fantasys that are very very firey and must be watched at all costs and the Westmead Hawk x Jazz Hurricane pups that are getting very bolshy in their young age.
The Droopys Maldini x Miss Wonderful pups are coming on a treat and I will hopefully have a video of them up on the site real soon, the weather has not been great and once it brightens up I shall take some footage.
The Hondo Black x Baby Marge pups are doing really well and have now been put up for sale, the timing of her injury was annoying as Marge was just coming to herself and I honestly believe that she would have went very close to winning the Regency.
Droopys Lena is absolutely massive and looks like she has 2 litters on board, hopefully she has only got 5 or 6 nice sized pups as I don’t want her being dragged down with a big litter, the sire is Hondo Black and I really like the look of these on paper, Lenas 1st litter(July 08) to Maldini are just beginning schooling, the ones that have visited the track so far have all went first time of asking, thats all you can ask for at this stage.
On the racing front the first pups from Jazz Hurricane have hit the track and Baron Samedi won his 2nd race at Hove in a great 30-28 and Jazz Rasta has graded straight into Coventry in A2(30-09) and was 4th after some crowding and clocked a very respectable 30-16, Paul Sallis’s bitch Rock It Jazz had her very 1st race at Hall Green, fair bit of trouble and finished last but she will have learnt so much from that and I know Paul likes her alot.
Bonnie Ben
01/09/09 11:03 Filed in: Stories
On checking the results at the weekend, to see if any of the pups reared at Questhouse Kennels had won, I seen that the old stalwart Bonnie Ben had went in again, as he will be 5 years old next month, I find it truly inspiring to see him still perform near the top of his game some 4 years after he left me.
Ben has raced 159 times of which 95 have been either A1 or Open races, obviously his last year has seen him dip down to A2’s frequently otherwise his Top Grade races to Actual races ran would be even higher.
From the 159 races, Ben has Won 38 Races, been second 41 times and been third 39 times, making the frame in an incredible 74% of his races, and a win to run ratio of 23.89%, 13 of these wins came in Opens.
I am very proud of what Ben has achieved and even more so when you consider that he was merely ½ an inch away from being killed by his brothers, that is how close they came to severing the jugular, after careful recouperation we sent him direct to Julie Luckhurst and the rest as they say is history, Julie and her staff must take great credit in keeping Ben ticking over and I know Ben was responsible for one of the highlights of Julies training career when he won Greyhound of the Year, Sprinter of the Year and Dog of the Year at Crayford all in the same year, this helped Julie win Trainer of the Year at Crayford which I know she was very proud of.